TFA Shattered Glass
by JediJaras
Summary: The events of Transformers Animated from a Shattered Glass perspective.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Out in the depths of space, in an asteroid field, was an Autobot space bridge. One might wonder why Ultra Magnus would want to have a space bridge built here, but no one would **_**dare**_** question the Magnus himself. Besides, the more space bridges, the bigger advantage they would have over the Decepticons.**

**On one of the larger asteroids was the space bridge itself. An orange and black ship was docked to the side, and, inside the ship, a young purple and black robot with red eyes was watching something to occupy his time.**

"**Many millions of years ago, war raged between the forces of the powerful Autobots and the unworthy Decepticons for control of the planet Cybertron. The Autobots battled valiantly in the name of their mighty Imperium; their courageous exploits bringing hope and glory to beleaguered, war-torn planets, and inspiring countless generations of robots yet to come online"**

**Orion Pax was one of those robots. He had joined the Autobot Elite Guard in the hopes of becoming a great commander, and, eventually, Magnus. Oh, he had plans for Cybertron alright, but **_**some**_** took exception to his 'creative' methods and had him expelled. He would make them all pay for his indignity, but first he needed weapons, bots with the chrome bearings to use them, a little energon, and a lot of luck.**

**As he watched the screen another Autobot, Ratchet, an old-as-rust medic with a green-scrubbed paintjob came in. "What a load of slag" He said, scoffing at the films. "Why do you waste your time with those history vids?" He asked Orion. "Because I can, Ratchet. Know the past and you can conquer the future" Ratchet shook his head. Orion had always had delusions of grandeur, like every other cadet that came from the slagging academy. "Look around, Orion. The Great Wars ended centuries ago" He said, spreading his arms for emphasis.**

"**The war is never over, not while the Decepticons scavenge our borders." "They haven't done any major damage, and I doubt they'll continue to do so" Orion grunted, stood up and glowered. The rust must be getting to Ratchet's processor. "They aren't called 'Decepticons' for nothing, Ratchet. You say you were there, that you saw some action? Prove it. What were the Decepticons really like?" Ratchet almost punched Orion in the face. He didn't need to prove anything. "Trust me, kid. The galaxy's better off not knowing. Besides, looks like the young bots could use a hand."**

**They looked out the window to see the shape of Bulkhead dangling precariously from the cliff. "Goldbug! My wreckin' ball's stuck again!" Orion sighed. As if Jazz arriving to inspect them wasn't enough, he had to deal with these fools under his command. He and Ratchet headed for the airlock, transformed and rolled out.**

**Outside, things weren't much better. "C'mon, Crosshairs! I really don't like heights! Get me down!" Bulkhead pleaded. "Get yourself down. I'm on break" Crosshairs was **_**always**_** on break. He would make an ideal soldier, but he was too lazy to try to do anything. He was squat with gorilla-like arms and a wine-red paintjob. The lazy smirk on his face must have been branded on his faceplate when he came online. It really irritated Bulkhead.**

**Finally Goldbug arrived. He was a sneaky, manipulative little bugger with a black paintjobs with gold stripes, not that Bulkhead minded. His plans always worked in both their favours. "Relax, Bulkhead." He said, taking aim with his stingers. "Tell me you're not going to shoot me down" "I'll be careful. Have ever lied to you?" "Millions of times-" Bulkhead couldn't continue, as Goldbug's shots cut through the rock like space jam. Bulkhead crashed to the ground, shaking it so hard that Goldbug slipped and Crosshairs fell off the cliff onto him.**

**Bulkhead wandered over to the two pipsqueaks, picked them up and prepared to smash the slag out of them when he felt something sharp pierce his shoulder. Orion and Ratchet had arrived, and Orion pulled the axe out of Bulkhead with his grapplers.**

"**What's the situation now?" Orion asked, very irritated. "I think the technical term is 'bunch of big honking rocks blocking Space Bridge'" Goldbug summed up. "Then what are you waiting for? Smash!" The three grudgingly got to work, thought it took a fistful of rock to get Crosshairs moving. Ratchet looked around "Scoop must be hiding again" "Of course. He's a coward." Orion held his axe dangerously and stalked the area "Oh Scoop. Come out before I cut your head off" He called in a sing-song voice.**

**A sharp scream sounded and out of the rocks popped a robot slightly larger than Bulkhead with green and grey colouration. "Okay, okay. I'm out, I'm out. I'll get to work! Just **_**please**_**, don't hand me over to the Elite Guard!" "That's not a bad idea, Scoop. They could probability fix your courage circuits." "I prefer to call it 'being smart'" Orion bared his axe "And I prefer to call you 'space scrap', but I need men. Now get to work!" Scoop scrambled off. "Real motivator, aren't you?" A slick voice called out.**

"**Jazz… we weren't expecting you" Jazz was a slim, white robot with a visor that could kill if looks could. "Sure you weren't. Though, I am impressed with the way you motivated your crew" Orion turned to address the crew. "Everyone, Jazz is here! Step it up! Bulkhead! Goldbug! Come on, Ratchet! Move your fender, Crosshairs! Stop dawdling, Scoop! You too, Prowl!" Then he looked and realised "Where is Prowl?"**

**A shuriken whizzed out and smashed a rock completely before flying back to its owner – Prowl, a slim bot coloured black and silver. Cold and emotionless, he was the ultimate assassin, but it also made him a loose cannon. "Just have to know the weak spot" He uttered. Jazz clapped dryly. "Next time, give us more warning" Orion warned. "That would just mess up my timing"**

**Orion decided enough was enough and stood up on a rock. "Listen up, cogs! Do I need to go through all this slag again?" Prowl face palmed "Not this speech again" Orion began "Now, remember: The Imperium-" "Is like an enormous clock" Everyone droned "Is like an enormous cl- Yes, precisely! It only works if all the little cogs mesh together." Scoop slipped and caused a rock to land on the control console. Terrified, he tried to fix it while Orion gave his speech "Now, a clock needs to be cleaned, well-lubricated and wound tight." Scoop, despite not knowing a thing about space bridges, pressed desperately at the control panel, trying to get it operation again. "The best clocks have jewel movements. Cogs that fit, that cooperate be design. You know what I mean when I talk about cooperative cogs?"**

**Everyone seemed to understand, except Prowl, of course, and… Scoop? He turned to see Scoop at the panel. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, Scoop!" Scoop turned, revealing the mess he'd made of the control panel. Ratchet got angry "What did you do?" "I-I-I was trying to fix it, see?" "I've seen Hoist do better patch-up jobs than you!" Ratchet pushed Scoop out of the way to observe it "Oh no. Move it!" Scoop had accidently activated the function that could turn the bridge into a giant blaster. They ran for cover as the blue transwarp sphere in the space bridge turned orange, disappeared than exploded, knocking the Autobots back and sending Jazz's ship tumbling into the asteroid field, where it was crushed into scrap.**

**The Autobots looked up. Jazz was dismayed "My ship! Now how will I get off this spark-forsaken rock?" "You'll just have to settle for a bunch of lowly maintenance bots, Pretty Boy" Crosshairs replied. "No talk-back, Crosshairs, or I'll have you sent to the ARC!" Crosshairs blew it off "An empty threat"**

**Orion then noticed something glowing from a crack in the rocks. He opened the crack to reveal a glowing container, pulsing with untold power. The whole group gasped "Could it be?" Jazz asked. "Are the legends true?" Orion asked. He held out his hand but Ratchet stopped him. "Leave it. Or, better still; throw it back through the space bridge. This wasn't meant to be found" Everyone stared at Ratchet as I he had gone truly mad. "Rules were made to be broken, old bot. This is the AllSpark itself!" Before the others could ask more Orion received a distress signal from the ship. "Decepticon incursion! Decepticon incursion!" "Decepticons?" Orion asked. Scoop nearly fainted, and Ratchet looked more worried than ever. "What are you waiting for, an invitation? Load that thing up!" Prowl and Goldbug did so, and they got back to the ship.**

"**Let's get the ship moving!" Scoop whined "Before the 'Cons blow us away!" Jazz whipped out one of his nun-chucks and whacked Scoop's arm, breaking it. As Scoop cried in pain Jazz spoke "Stupid fool. The 'Cons follow the self-destructive path of pacifism and tolerance. They won't attack first" "No more talk! To the bridge!" The ship lifted off, hoping to get their precious cargo to safety.**

**Author's Notes**

This is the start. The Autobots might not seem that evil now, but, trust me, they will. Next chapter I'll introduce the heroic Decepticons.

ARC stands for 'Agonising Rehabilitation Chamber'


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**The Autobot repair ship raced through space, dodging the asteroid field. "I don't see why we need to get all worked up." Crosshairs moaned "I mean, everyone knows the story of the AllSpark" Ratchet turned to him "Here's another one: It was one of the few reasons why we won the war. It was sent through a space bridge to keep it out of Decepticon hands and prevent possible civil war between the Autobots" Ironic, that they were already in the middle of a civil war at the time. "Warning, spacecraft approaching. Positive identification as Decepticon warship"**

"**I'm contacting the Elite Guard" Jazz said, slipping his ID card in his console. Bulkhead was impressed "Wow, when you want help you go right to the top" Orion wasn't enthusiastic "Why bother? We'd be better off trusting Scoop" "We need big guns. They've got the guns, but you've got the real know-how" Orion couldn't believe it. Jazz was supporting him?**

**On the screen appeared the last bot Orion ever wanted to see in his life-cycle. The big-chined suck-up who had gotten him kicked out in the first place – Sentinel Minor "Jazz… Orion Pax? You're still commanding other bots?" "Stow it, Sentinel! If I ever want to talk to a garbage bot I'll head for Nebulos! Where's Ultra Magnus?" "Now, how could a third-rate rock buster possibly merit the Supreme Commander's attention?" "With this thing I dug up" Orion said, bringing up a visual of the cargo hold, AllSpark and all. "I'll… put you through right away"**

"_**And everyone always said I was the handsome one, I was the smart one, and I was born first!**_**" Orion thought bitterly "**_**But there you are; second-in-command to Ultra Magnus on Cybertron. And here I am; working with these barrels of slag in the bung-hole of the galaxy**_**" His thoughts were cut short when the image of Ultra Magnus showed up. "Ultra Magnus here. We're tracking your Decepticon signal. Probably just a lost scout ship. Ever since I drove them into exile they've been wandering the borders. They wouldn't dare attack the Imperium." "**_**Your overconfidence is your weakness, sir**_**" Orion thought "You, Jazz and your bots just sit tight. There will be grave consequences for those who disobey. I assure you that" Ultra Magnus ceased transmission.**

"**Decepticons still on our tail and closing in fast" Prowl reported. "So where are they?" Goldbug asked. "Teletraan 1, deploy attack mode. Codename: Omega" "Please enter activation code" "Activation code?" "Pax, sir, Ultra Magnus said to sit tight" Bulkhead said. "You've heard of the Golden Rule, haven't you, Bulkhead? 'Whoever has the gold makes the rules'" Goldbug understood "Meaning, that if we have the AllSpark we can take them on ourselves!" "Exactly, Goldbug. Now turn this ship around. We'll use the AllSpark to blast anything that comes our way" As they raced through they almost collided with the massive Decepticon warship. "I seriously doubt we can blast through that" Crosshairs replied.**

**On the outside of the warship **_**Nemesis**_**, Lugnut was scraping the space barnacles off. It was degrading, and it simply added to the reasons why he hated Starscream and Megatron. The only reason he had joined in the first damn place was because he hated the way the Autobots did things even less than the way Megatron did. "Why is Lugnut here, scraping barnacles of the bridge? Don't they trust Lugnut? In that case, Lugnut never trust them or anyone, ever!" Then he proceeded to mock his fellow teammates:**

**Megatron "Oh, Glorious Megatron! Leading our species to devastation is surely what we all want, isn't it?"**

**Starscream "Oh, Megatron, I worship you, I will remain loyal to you forever"**

**Blackarachnia "Oh, I'm so lovely! I want to flaunt my expertise and grotesque body to the whole galaxy!"**

**He left Blitzwing out because he was his only friend. True his split personality made him a difficult Decepticon to handle, but all three seemed to be on good terms with Lugnut. "**_**Lugnut, return to the bridge. Megatron wants to address us**_**" Lugnut grunted. It was Starscream talking. "Lugnut confirms". Before leaving he planted a device he had stolen from the workshop on the hull.**

**Everyone was assembled on the bridge. Starscream with a red and white paintjob, Lugnut with a military green camouflage paintjob, Blackarachnia with a gold paintjob and Blitzwing with his white, red and blue colour scheme. Then Megatron entered. He was an imposing figure that would much prefer to save protoforms than eat them. "Starscream, report" "Energy reading off the scale, my liege" "Do we fire, sir?" Lugnut asked "Cripple their ship, Lugnut. We don't need mindless carnage"**

**The **_**Nemesis**_** fired at the ship. One blast hit the ship, sending the crew flying over the place. "We're all going to die! We're all going to die!" Scoop screamed. "Warning: power reserves 96% depleted. Initiating alternate route" Orion got in the control seat "Override" "Repeat: power loss critical. Further expenditure will result in complete shutdown. Alternate route must be initiated." "Override!"**

"**I've got a match on the energy reading" Blackarachnia reported. "If it's not the AllSpark, it's something just as powerful" Starscream bowed down before Megatron "I volunteer to deploy and breach the Autobot ship in your name, My Lord" "I can handle this myself, Starscream, although I respect your enthusiasm" Megatron said, putting his hand on Starscream's shoulder. "I will deploy myself. You're in command until I return. If I don't return get the ship back to Decepticon space" Lugnut overheard this and typed something onto his console. "But, my liege, we cannot do this without you!" Starscream pleaded, unable to see the possibility of Megatron not returning "You can and you will" Megatron replied as he headed for the hanger.**

**As the Nemesis overshadowed the Decepticon ship, Megatron transformed and headed after it. He was observed on the screens on both ships. "Is that, Megatron?" Orion asked "Get us out of here, Jazz!" Scoop screamed "No can do, motormouth. I can't shake their magnetic junction" Megatron transformed, landed on the ship and began blasting it open. "Ratchet, seal the hull breach! Prowl, hold the ship steady! The rest of you, with me to the cargo hold!" "You don't give the orders here, OP!" Jazz retorted "My ship. Makes me captain" "I have a higher rank in the Cyber-Ninja Corps" "Well, then that makes you second-in-command! Happy now?" "Marginally so"**

"**What about the ship?" Crosshairs asked "Slag the ship! We've got the AllSpark!" Megatron had weakened the hull enough, so he recharged his fusion cannon, pulled out a bomb and blew open the weakened section of the ship.**

**From the **_**Nemesis**_** no one seemed to know what was happening, especially when the explosion occurred. "What was that?" Blackarachnia asked. Starscream had no idea. His liege should have the energy source by now, so what was taking so long? Blitzwing switched to his 'Brave Hothead' face "Let's attack the Autobot scum and find out!" Remembering what Megatron told him "No, stand down. Blackarachnia, turn this ship around. Slow enough for Megatron to catch up with us" Blackarachnia punched in the coordinates, but something wasn't right. "The ship isn't responding" "What?" "Our course is locked in" Blitzwing switched faces, this time to his 'Compassionate Ice' face "What now?" "We face our destiny like Decepticons, and hope that Megatron makes it. Full speed ahead" Starscream ordered, sure of himself, while the others were not.**

"**Hull breached! Sealing hatches! Warning: collision imminent!" The computer alerted. As Ratchet and Prowl steered the ship the others were in the cargo hold. "Hey, what's that thing doing?" Goldbug asked as the AllSpark began to glow. The ship was engulfed in a coat of blue light, which engulfed the **_**Nemesis**_** through its tractor beam. It led both ships through the space bridge, which exploded due to the strain.**

**Earth space**

**In a flash of light both ships appeared above the planet Earth. The tractor beam of the **_**Nemesis**_** finally broke off, sending the ship spiralling into the atmosphere. The wrecked **_**Nemesis**_** itself ploughed into the surface of the moon. Megatron looked on helplessly, hoping someone had survived. As he made his way to the cargo hold he could feel the AllSpark. There it was, glowing in all its majesty. He picked it up, but then felt an axe slice his leg. Orion Pax leapt out enraged. "Get your hands off my AllSpark!" "Never! The AllSpark is life!" "Then let it end yours!" They both grappled for a while. "Your time is at an end, Megatron. You shall never have the AllSpark and there's no one to save you" Orion pushed Megatron back towards the airlock. "Then we both go!" Megatron pushed the button "What are you doing? No!" The airlock opened and Orion, Megatron and the AllSpark were sucked out and sent crashing towards the planet. **

**Ratchet managed to make out the shapes outside the ship. "Warning: planetary impact imminent" Ratchet scrambled up and managed to divert the ship away from the city and crashed into a body of water.**

**The same could not be said for Orion. He landed in a heavily populated area. Civilians came to get a glance at the mysterious object that had crashed from outer space, and fire trucks arrived to put the fire out. Once it was, the people were disappointed to find nothing there. As the fire trucks drove away they didn't notice another one drive away from the main group. This particular fire truck was purple, grey and black and had a cracked windshield. "**_**Best to observe this planet incognito**_**"**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**50 stellar cycles later**

Detroit, the 'Motor City' was unique. It was once the top supplier of automobiles in the world. Now it was the top manufacturer of _automatons_. Everything from police drones to garbage bots, from camera bots to tutor bots began its operational cycle in Detroit. But behind all this lay a dark past…

40 years ago Detroit became a self-styled monarchy, for reasons unknown, being led by whoever was the most powerful. When the last King died there were two main competitors scrambling for the throne; Isaac Sumdac, head of Sumdac Systems, the main manufacturer of automatons. And Porter C. Powell, head of Powell Motorworks and the Detroit Powell Press. Being head of both the vehicle works and press it seemed likely that Powell would take over. Sumdac was a genius, however, and managed to upgrade his automatons for every possible purpose.

The head of the Police department Captain Fanzone, despite his love of machines, stood with Powell in order to keep a steady supplier and funder. To counter this alliance, Sumdac was negotiating an alliance with Biotech Unbound, led by Prometheus Black, nicknamed 'Meltdown' for his attractiveness to the ladies.

This was a special day for the alliance. They were in the process of creating a war-winning beast that could stand against the police and take care of Powell for good. Everyone assumed that Sumdac did most of his work in his gigantic tower. But it was a diversion to draw eyes away from their factory and their underground lab.

"What sort of template should we use?" Black asked Sumdac "I believe a cockroach. They eat anything" "Then Powell should provide a tasty treat" The lab technicians took heed and got a cockroach from their containment units "Pardon me for asking, but where is your daughter?" "Sari? She's probably on patrol. I sometimes send her out to get things for my experiments" "I she aware of her true history?" "Oh, of course. She just wouldn't care at the moment" "Too bad she isn't about a decade older"

Sari Sumdac was, at that point, wandering the ruined city in a small cloak. She liked to scare people and see the terror on their faces. She didn't mind the machines her father built, but they seemed too boring and monotonous. "I got what dad wanted, but I'm not sure where I am" She activated the GPS function of her cell phone but got only static. She tried to phone someone but couldn't get through. She was in front of an abandoned warehouse.

Curious, Sari opened the door to see what was inside. It would be too dark for a normal human to see, but, using her infrared sight, Sari could see perfectly. The place stank, worse than the inside of a garbage bot. As she wandered forward she stepped in a puddle of oil. Being a technorganic she could taste it without feeling sick, so she did so. "Fresh tracks. Someone's been here. And from the looks of those oil cans, it's been home for a while." She wandered over to a table where all sorts of gadgets were strewn across it. Sari reached out to touch one of them when she heard someone. "Put that down if you value your life!"

Sari turned around to see a purple fire truck shining its lights on her, then unfolding to reveal a giant robot! Orion Pax had upgraded himself over the years, configuring the extra kibble from his alternate mode into a jetpack. This made him unique, as Autobots don't usually fly. As drew his axe and advanced on the fleshling. "No! Stay away from me!" Her hands unfolded and shot blasts of energy at Orion, who blocked them with his axe. Halting, he kneeled down and grabbed Sari. "I'm rather impressed. I've never seen a human who could do that before" "I'm not a human. I'm a technorganic" Orion was disgusted, but remembered the power that he could wield through her. "What's your name?" "Sari Sumdac" "I used to be called Orion Pax, but now I'm called Optimus" "What are you?" "I'm an Autobot. There are others on this planet. Whether they're online or not I'm going to find out"

Optimus transformed into his fire truck mode. "Well, good luck with that" Sari said, but as she turned around Optimus grabbed her and tossed inside his cab. "You've seen too much. You're coming with me. I have uses for you" Sari tried to scream, but was muffled by the seatbelts.

Back at the Sumdac robot plant, Prometheus was donating his part of the experiment - nanobots. Once the war was over, they could be reconfigured for other purposes, such as fighting diseases. "I can't stop the replication!" A technician yelled as the cockroach began to grow "The cells are growing out of control!" "Let them!" Sumdac cheered. "Has Fanzone been called yet?" "Yes, Mr Black! And just as well too!"

The cockroach monster broke out of the glass tube and began merging with everything it touched, becoming bigger. "It's alive!" "It's coming for us! Look out!" "No! I want to see our creation!" The monster burst through the glass window and advanced hungrily on the terrified Professor Sumdac.

Sari was strapped in tight, but was allowed to breath. She decided not to argue with Optimus. From what she could tell they were headed for the harbour. "I doubt you're going to find your friends there. That harbour's been filled with derelict boats since I was born" "I don't give a leaky gasket about the boats. What I'm looking for is underwater" Sari gasped and held on tight as Optimus drove into the water. As they landed and advanced Sari looked up to see a rusted, barnacle-encrusted ship of alien origin. Optimus sent out a signal which opened the airlock and allowed him and Sari to enter.

Optimus tossed Sari out, transformed and observed the stasis-locked bodies of his crew and Jazz. Sari of course was amazed. "You stay here, and don't touch anything" Optimus told Sari. Optimus gathered up the bodies, placed them in the stasis cells, and used his skills to reactivate them. The group stumbled out, disorientated, until they saw who was in front of them. "Ratchet, Bulkhead, Prowl, Goldbug, Scoop, Crosshairs, Jazz. Glad to see you're still funct-" Optimus was cut short as they aimed their weapons at them. "Hold it!" Ratchet said. "We're not savages. Just be grateful you're online" "How can we, Doc-bot?" Goldbug asked "Yeah, he abandoned us!" Scoop peeked behind Optimus and, when he saw Sari, shrieked like a little girl. "It's- it's organic!" "It's technorganic, dammit! _Techno_rganic!"

Jazz was absolutely disgusted. No wonder Orion had been kicked out of the academy. "So you have an infestation now? Wonderful. Vape them all." Optimus whipped out his axe and knocked Jazz's nun chucks out of his hands. Goldbug tried to shoot both of them but Optimus activated his hoses and sprayed Goldbug. "Hey! You shorted out my stingers!" "That's why I'm the leader and you're not" "You seem rather confident, Orion, what with that alien covering-" "It's a disguise, Prowl. You'll all need disguises if we're going to get anywhere on this planet"

Outside, the monster had broken out of the factory and was cornered by the police force, which consisted of fire trucks, ambulances, police bikes, police cars and SWAT vans. Prometheus Black was scrambling for his car, but was knocked away by the beast. At that moment Captain Fanzone arrived in his yellow, rusted hatchback. "I love machines, but Sumdac's gone too far this time" He pulled out a speaker "Testing. One, two, three" But nothing came out. "Will someone get me a blow horn that works, for crying out loud?!" He snatched another one from a nearby officer. "Alright, SWAT units, draw that thing away from civilians. Emergency crews, let's get those people evacuated now." One officer seemed confused "But, sir, they're our enemies" "They're _Powell's_ enemies! We're ordered to 'protect and serve'! Aside from criminals, does that phrase refer to anyone specific?" "No, sir"

The SWAT members began firing at the monster, which just stood there as if nothing happened. Then it swatted the men away and consumed two police cars. This distracted the monster long enough for the building to be evacuated. "Is that everyone?" Fanzone asked "I'm afraid not, sir. We couldn't find Professor Sumdac" Fanzone turned to Prometheus Black "Do you have any ideas where he is, Mr Black?" Prometheus pointed to the monster "There. In the belly of that abomination we created" He then tore up the contract he held and stormed off declaring "Biotech Unbound will not support either side in this war".

The firemen tried to stop the monster, but it instead consumed two trucks. Fanzone decided to take matters into his own hands. "Bring out the big guns" Several SWAT members came up carrying bazookas. Fanzone grabbed one of his own and aimed. "FIRE!" The monster consumed the missiles like anything else, but then it exploded, splattering goo everywhere. "Heh, smart bombs. Really pack a punch"

The crowd started to cheer until they noticed the creature reforming itself. One piece, however, landed in the water and sank down to the Autobots ship, activating the alarms. "What's with alarm?" Goldbug asked "There's no one here but us" "AH! Ghosts!" Scoop screamed, but Prowl shoved him out of the way. "More likely it's that thing" Ratchet picked up the fragment of the monster with his magnets. "Whatever it is it's definitely got circuitry" Sari recognised the goo. "Hey, I know that. It's was something my dad was experimenting on" The Autobots had been told of her family, her company and her war, but they were still peeved about her very presence, particularly Bulkhead. "Who asked you, organic?" "_Techno_rganic" "No, she might have a point" Optimus said, going to the control console.

"Teletraan 1, scan the area. See what's going on out there" The ship released a Sky Spy probe, which began sending back images of the humans and the monster. "I think it's time we introduced ourselves to the humans" Optimus said devilishly. "Teletraan 1, scan those vehicles" The probe cloaked itself and scanned a number of vehicles, sending the data back to the stasis cells. The Autobots got back inside. The door closed, the chamber glowed, and the Autobots emerged, reformatted. "Cool" Sari said. "Autobots, transform and roll out!"

The Autobots transformed into their alternate modes:

* Ratchet: a green-scrubbed ambulance with blue crosses

* Bulkhead: a light black SWAT van with skulls on the side

* Prowl: a black and silver police bike

* Goldbug: a black hatchback with gold stripes and Elite Guard tattoos

* Scoop: A cross between a cement truck and a bulldozer

* Crosshairs: A red humvee with a large cannon on top

* Jazz: a white corvette with blue and red stripes with the phrase 'Massacre Racing' tampographed on the windshield

"Not bad, huh?" Optimus asked "Suh-weet" "Impressive" "Roomy" "It'll do" "Yeah, I guess" "Do you think people will make fun of me in this?" "Come on, any species that could come up with a sweet ride like this can't be all bad"

The other Autobots rolled out, except for Ratchet. "Aren't you coming, Doc-bot?" Scoop asked. "Someone's gotta analyse this thing" Scoop wasn't too eager to go fight organics "You need some help?" "No" Ratchet said flatly. Scoop resigned himself to his fate and rolled off.

Outside, the battle wasn't going well. "All units fall back" Fanzone ordered. As the humans drove away, the Autobots emerged from the water. Optimus tossed Sari out. "That's getting a little old, Optimus" Fanzone watched "What do those cowboys think they're doing down there?" He pulled out his comm. "You lot, what part of 'fall back' do you not understand?" He pulled out his binoculars. "Who are those guys? I want their names, I want their badges, I want their- " He then noticed that the motorcycle had no driver. "Where are the drivers? What's the Sumdac kid doing there? And how is MY CAR DRIVING ITSELF?"

"Autobots, transform!" The vehicles transformed to reveal Optimus, Prowl, Goldbug, Bulkhead, Scoop, Jazz and Crosshairs. Sari powered up her hand blasters and decided to join them. Soon all the Autobots were ready make sushi out of the monster. Well, except Scoop, who had just fainted.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The Autobots charged towards the monster, with Optimus shouting "Autobots, attack!". Sari shot at it, Optimus sliced with his axe, Prowl tossed his shurikens, but nothing seemed to work. Crosshairs sat at the sidelines, having no interest in the fight whatsoever. The monster grabbed Scoop and smashed down on Crosshairs with him. The jolted Scoop awake, and found himself surrounded by tentacles "Please! Please don't hurt me! I dent easily!" He pleaded.

Prowl landed by him and spun around, reducing the tentacles to ribbons. Jazz watched the spectacle. "Hmm, the classic Metallikato Five Servos of Doom attack. But, have you seen this move?" Jazz got out his nun chucks and whacked the tentacles. It seemed to be ineffective, but the monster pulled them back to find them limp, paralysed and useless. "Not bad" "Yoketron taught you well, but he didn't teach you everything"

Bulkhead revealed his spiked wrecking-ball. "One side, bots. I'm the real instrument of destruction here!" He swung his ball, but it got stuck in the monster, and began to pull Bulkhead in. Scoop ran over and tried to yank the ball out. Crosshairs shot at the contact point, but to no avail. "Prowl, lend a servo, will ya?" There was no response. Instead a shuriken sliced through the cord, sending Bulkhead and Scoop onto their backs. "He said 'lend a servo', not 'slice a servo'" "Better the servo than your processor" Optimus stormed over "Prowl, I'm tired of your insolence and your scurrying to the dark" Prowl ignored him and leapt into the air "_And I'm tired of your infernal jabbering_" He thought.

Prowl sliced at the monster but found himself caught in its grasp, and finally consumed. "Prowl!" Scoop cried. Optimus activated his comlink "Ratchet, we need backup now!" "I'm busy, and I don't need to be disturbed!" "How disturbed would you be by a SESSION IN THE ARC?! 'Cause that's what's coming to you if you don't get here now" "I've done some research and those nanobots are programmed to interpret any unfamiliar material as an invader. If you'd have a bit more patience I can whip up an override command" Optimus growled "My patience is wearing thin. Do it quickly or you'll spend the rest of your life in the ARC!" "At my age, this is as quick as it gets"

Crosshairs ducked the tentacles "Anyone picking up Prowl's energy signal?" "I am" Jazz said "But it's faint" "Ratchet to Optimus. I'm beaming the override command via Teletraan 1. But these nanobots are so primitive that you'll have to upload it manually. Its higher functions are in its core processor." "We need someone small enough to get inside its mouth" Every stared at Goldbug, then at Sari. "What? No way!" Bulkhead grabbed her and tossed her and the override into the creature's mouth. "You think she'll find Prowl in there? Or even live long enough" Crosshairs asked Optimus "Prowl will survive, or not. Either way that girl has a lot more potential than he does"

The creature froze, flashed and collapsed into a pile of white powdery material. Among it they found Sari, Bulkhead's servo and Prowl's damaged body. As Prowl began to stir, Optimus whacked his temple, knocking him out. He handed the body to Bulkhead "Load him up." Bulkhead transformed and loaded Prowl up. "Ratchet, we're headed for my lab. Follow my signal. Transform and roll out." "What about the ship?" "Slag. The. Ship." They transformed and rolled for the warehouse. But Goldbug picked up Sari and carried her off, seemingly unconscious.

Once they arrived Optimus took Prowl's body and shut himself away in the lab. The others discussed the recent events. "Think all humans can create creatures like that?" Goldbug asked "For our sakes let's hope not" Scoop said, quivering in fear. Sari began to stir, then remembered something she had seen. She then started to cry. "Eugh! It's leaking!" Scoop exclaimed. "What's your malfunction now, human?" Jazz asked. "When you tossed me into that thing, I saw into it's mind, its memory. I saw it consuming my dad, which means…" Sari cried more heavily. Her father, the only person who had cared for her was dead. "You just let those optics leak as much as you need to. We'll watch out for you." Goldbug assured her. "I doubt that, but thanks" Sari replied.

They heard the sound of tires screeching up to the entrance and saw Ratchet enter, grumpy as ever. "Thanks for waiting up on me, bots" He replied sarcastically. "Where's Optimus?" "He's in his lab with Prowl. The boss told us not to disturb him" Ratchet shook his head "That's problem with you young bots. You have no imagination!"

The door hissed open and Optimus stepped out. "Before you ask, Prowl's fine. I've made some improvements to him. Come" They all walked in to see Prowl looking… normal. Ratchet noticed that there were two halves of stasis cuffs on his wrists like shackles. Prowl began to stir. When he saw Optimus he raised his fist up to punch him, but was held back. "You! Let me go! I'm no longer part of your command!" "That's where you're wrong." Optimus typed something into his wrist… Prowl then began to writhe in pain as the effects of the shackles shocked over him. "You'll be an honoured member of my team as long as you remember one fact about your life" Optimus came face-to-face "It's mine" Prowl was too pained to speak, but he had never felt so humiliated in his life.

"Boss-bot, our friend seems to have something to say" Optimus turned to Sari. "I have nowhere else to go now, so I've decided to ask, can I join you?" "You can't allow this, Optimus!" Jazz said "An organic in our presence? It's unthinkable!" "Ratchet's right. You bots have no imagination. We need allies. You may join us, Sari. Kneel"

Sari knelt down before Optimus.

"Repeat after me: 'I pledge my unquestioning allegiance to the Autobot Imperium and our glorious cause' "

"I pledge my unquestioning allegiance to the Autobot Imperium and our glorious cause"

"'I shall devote my ember to achieving our goal of a galaxy-spanning empire, by any means necessary'"

"I shall devote my ember to achieving our goal of a galaxy-spanning empire, by any means necessary"

"'And annihilate all those who would seek to stop us'"

"And annihilate all those who would seek to stop us"

"'Surrender is not an option'"

"Surrender is not an option"

"Excellent. You are powerful, and special. Henceforth, you shall be known as… Circuit Breaker"

"Thank you, sir"

"Rise, Autobot." Sari, no, Circuit Breaker rose. "You're in, Circuit Breaker." "Thank you, Goldbug. Though I'm not so sure" "You will be. I'll be there to support you." Optimus broke up the conversation. "Now, Circuit Breaker, what do you say we end this war once and for all?" CB started to think "Yeah. And I know where the enemy is. Once the war has ended we'll be the rulers of this area" "I like the way she thinks" Jazz remarked. "Upload the coordinates. Autobots, transform and roll out!"

The Autobots headed under cover of night en-route to Porter C. Powell's headquarters. On the way Bulkhead wanted to ask Goldbug something "What are you playing at, helping the technorganic?" "Shush! Do you wanna blow us off? You know the way I work, Bulkhead" "All to well" "Once she's served our purpose I'll see to her death personally. She won't suspect her best friend killing her, won't she?" He gave a small cackle, joined by Bulkhead's wheezy laughter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Porter C. Powell was watching the news reports fly in about the monster at Sumdac Industries, the death of his rival, the appearance of giant robots that killed the monster… wait… Giant robots?

Powell looked more carefully at the screen. Those robots were nothing like anything he had seen Sumdac churn out before. They could top even the police drones. "If they killed the monster, they must be enemies of Sumdac, and potential allies" "Hardly" Someone said. Powell stood up terrified, and then heard noises outside. Suddenly Prowl leapt down from the ceiling and flung his shuriken, smashing the window behind Powell. As the wind rushed into the room Powell looked down to see more of those robots fighting his Auto defences. "Please don't hurt me, I'll do anything!" "Please. I doubt you'll die to save your skin" "Well, what are you waiting for? Are you going to kill me now?" "That task has been reserved for our newest member"

Circuit Breaker leapt down from Prowl and advanced on Powell. "Sari Sumdac?" "My name is Circuit Breaker, Powell. But, the part of me that is Sari Sumdac still wants revenge" "For what?" "For opposing my dad, and leading him to his death! He wouldn't be if you'd just accepted the fact that he was stronger than you!" "Never! Your father brought it on himself. Besides, that's the way of life. Compete or die. Mercy is irrelevant" "Spoken like a weakling. The only purpose of the weak is to feed the strong." CB charged up her hand-blasters "And perhaps the beasts and insects that'll feed on your body will be more satisfied than I am!" She shot at Powell, knocking him out the window, screaming, to his death.

CB sighed, then turned to Prowl "Prowl, do you ever feel happy or satisfied when you kill someone?" "What others call 'satisfaction', I call 'peace of mind'." He glanced at his unbreakable shackles "Now it seems to be the only way to attain peace of mind thanks to these wretched things" "_Prowl, Circuit Breaker, is Powell dead yet?_" "Yes, sir" Prowl answered, saying the word 'sir' with the utmost contempt. "_I don't care for your tone, Prowl_" The shackles shocked Prowl into submission again. "_Get down here now. We detect multiple vehicles coming in our direction_"

The others had distracted the automated defences, which were now piles of scrap metal. It could hardly be called a battle as they hardly stood a chance against them. "Five up, five down. It's like shooting cyber-ducks in a barrel" Bulkhead boasted. Then they heard the police sirens. They arrived as Prowl and CB landed beside them. Captain Fanzone stormed out of the car as the SWAT teams took aim. "Put your hands where I can see 'em!" Then CB stepped forward. "It's okay, Captain Fanzone. There's nothing to worry about here" "Miss Sumdac? I'll be the judge of that" "Okay, but first, maybe you should talk to your boss"

CB stepped aside to reveal Powell's inert body. The SWAT members were speechless. "You killed Porter C. Powell?" Fanzone asked. "Yes, we did, Captain" Optimus said. Fanzone dropped his blow horn. "Thanks. I really hated that guy" The other Autobots didn't know what to say. "Stand down, men." "So, now that Powell's dead, everything of his goes over to my fellow Autobots, and, by extension, me" CB explained. "I suppose it does. I guess we'll have to see to your coronation in the morning, Miss Sumdac" "You've made a wise choice, Captain. And, by the way, it's Circuit Breaker"

The next day, the whole city had gathered to hear the announcement of the end of the war and the new regime. CB was standing proudly alongside Optimus, with the other Autobots behind them. "Citizens of Detroit, as you know the war has ended, thanks to Optimus and the Autobots. You might be wondering, 'who will be taking over?'. Me, that's who"

The city didn't know how to react. A mere child running Detroit? It was unthinkable. People would have protested, if not for the severe glares they received, courtesy of Optimus, Bulkhead, Prowl and Jazz. Goldbug and Crosshairs were basking in the glory, Ratchet was looking sour, and Scoop was quivering and rubbing his servos nervously. "But, before I begin my reign, I'd like to lay it on the line. I may have the body of a child, but I have the heart and stomach of an Autobot! And I assure you; this city will come to order once more!" The crowds cheered and the camera bots began taking pictures wildly. "And to think Ultra Magnus told us not to be heroes" Crosshairs commentated. "We're not heroes, kid. We're outlaws on a strange planet" Ratchet replied. "I thought you'd be used to this sort of thing, Ratchet" Optimus cut in "All the celebrations, the glory" "Neither side left us much to celebrate" Ratchet replied.

On Cybertron

On Cybertron everything was under surveillance. Streets were patrolled every night by the terrifying Autotroopers. Anyone who made enough trouble was sentenced to death or, even worse, the stockade. There were several division of the Cybertron Government:

* The Elite Guard – Ultra Magnus' fanatically devoted watchdogs, led by Sentinel Minor

* The Auto Army - very, very, _very_ dumb muscle, with a few exceptions, led by Rodimus Minor

* The Civilian Guilds – head of the masses, led by Alpha Trion and Botanica

* The Ministry of Science – led by Perceptor

* The Cyber-Ninja Corps – led by Dai Atlas

* The Cybertron Intel – led by Longarm Prime

Longarm Prime, was, in actuality the Decepticon deep-cover spy, Shockwave. He remembered being upgraded for this purpose by Blackarachnia, taking his name from history files, and climbing the ranks of the boot camp to get where he was now. It pained him to see Autobots strike at his fellow Decepticons due to him, even though he knew that most of the information he was distributing was useless by the time they got there.

"_It's been fifty stellar cycles since word reached us of Megatron's disappearance._" He thought to himself _"Ultra Magnus has, of course, taken this opportunity to push us back. But I don't believe one word of it. Megatron wouldn't abandon us without a word._" He knew what he had to do; He had to try and contact the _Nemesis_, but he couldn't expose himself while doing so. Then a thought occurred to him.

In the stockade orbiting Cybertron, a small bot with a bug-like face, a red paintjob and a body-type similar to Godlbugs was shivering in his cell. His name was Wasp. He had joined the Cybertron boot camp and made friends with Ironhide, who seemed nice enough, even with that killer edge of his. His sergeant seemed to take a shine to him. Life was sweet.

That was until Bumble-bot showed up!

From what he knew, Bumble-bot had been a former pickpocket and sneak shanghaied into service when he was caught. He then made a friendship with that mudflap, Bulkhead, and then he turned to Wasp. He seemed nice enough, for a pickpocket, and they soon became close friends. What a fool he had been. One cycle he was doing target practice, minding his own business when the sarge stormed in proclaiming him to be a traitor and that Bumble-bot had found proof – a Decepticon communicator. He told Sarge-bot it was ludicrous, that he had never seen a Decepticon in his life. But the sarge just ripped his Autobot emblem off him and had him sent to the stockade, for life.

He knew he had been framed. How did he know it was Bumble-bot? Because he was smirking all the time! "Bumblebee, what's going on? We're friends!" He said "In my business, there are no friends, only suckers like you!" From that day on, he looked forward to the day when he could eat Bumble-bots ember online and take his head as a trophy.

He heard screams and decided to take a peek. He saw a bot, Tracks, being dragged to the ARC. He felt pity rush through him. The door closed, then, after a minute or so, there was a shock and a long scream. "That was just to see if it was working. Here's the real deal" Someone said and shocked Tracks again. "Wait. The camera wasn't recording. Let's try it again" He said and shocked Tracks again.

Amidst the screams he heard someone coming his way. Wasp slunk back into the corner as the bot opened the cell door, came inside and closed it. "Wasp, there's nothing to be afraid of" "Long-bot?" "Yes, it's me, Longarm. I'm sorry for what happened to you. If I had been there I would have stuck up for you." "Wasp not spy" Longarm patted his shoulder with one arm, and with the other arm he crushed the security camera. "Yes, Wasp. You're not the spy. I am" Wasp was confused "What does Long-bot mean?" Longarm transformed into Shockwave. Wasp gasped. "My real name is Shockwave. I am a Decepticon, and I'm offering you the chance of freedom and sanctuary." "Why should Wasp listen to Long-bot? Trusting bots is reason Wasp here in first place" "I promise you. You'll never be used again. Please, trust me"

Wasp pondered for a while, then shook Shockwave's claw. "Wasp trust Long-bot. What plan?" Shockwave transformed back. "Just follow my lead and don't say anything" Longarm carried Wasp out of the cell, but was stopped by the torturer. "Longarm Prime, sir. What is the meaning of this?" "The head of Intel should be allowed a little fun once in a while, shouldn't he?" Longarm made, making the throat-cutting gesture. The torturer smirked and allowed his out of the cells.

Both bots made it to the hangar, where a scout ship was docked and ready. "Wasp, listen carefully. Take this ship and head for the nearest space bridge" He handed Wasp something "Use this tracker to find the location of Megatron's ship, the _Nemesis_. Then take the space bridge to those coordinates. If you find any survivors or any trace of that ship, even wreckage, let me know." "Wasp understand" "Good, now go, quickly. Good luck"

Wasp took off and flew as fast as he could to the nearest space bridge. He landed, got out and used the tracker on the control console. As the coordinates came up he was approached by two Autotroopers "Hands up, fugitive" One croaked. Wasp drew his stingers and blasted them in the face, taking one of their rifles for good measure. He got back into his ship, lifted off and went into the space bridge….


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The wreck of the Nemesis lay silently in the vacuum of space. It had remained undisturbed for 50 stellar cycles. If it hadn't people might have gotten further in and noticed the four robotic bodies lying inert on the bridge. The silence was disturbed by a transwarp sphere and the appearance of a small Autobot ship. It landed and out emerged Wasp. "_Decepticon ship has seen better days_" He thought "_Better call Long-bot. No – first look for survivors, and _then _call Long-bot_"

Wasp entered the ship through a hole in the side. After weaving his way through the wrecked hallways he squeezed his way onto the bridge. There he found Starscream, Blackarachnia, Lugnut and Blitzwing, all in stasis lock. The defence systems had been shut down, but, fortunately, the life-support systems hadn't. Wasp dragged them to the CR chambers, waited for a while, and the Decepticons stumbled out wearily. "Um, are Decepticons alright?" Wasp asked. "Who are you?" "Wasp wanted fugitive, like Decepticons" The Decepticons towered over Wasp, but Blackarachnia was more or less not much taller than him. Wasp was more concerned about the big green one. He scared the slag out of him. "Speak, fool" Lugnut boomed. "Are you an Autobot or something else?" "Wasp was Autobot" Lugnut raised his fist and prepared to activate his explosive punch, but Starscream held him back. "Wait, Lugnut!" He turned to Wasp. "What do you mean 'was'?" Wasp began to tell his story…

…"So, Autobots lie to Wasp. Call Wasp traitor, but Wasp not traitor. But Autobots still lock Wasp up in stockade. Wasp confused." "Sounds pretty simple to me. The Autobots betrayed you and now you hate them. Been there, done that." Blackarachnia replied. The other Decepticons understood that that was one part of her history she would prefer to forget. "Spider-bot understand Wasp?" Blackarachnia smiled in kinship "You and I have quite a lot in common." "Lady-bot Wasp's friend?" "I guess so, if you're willing to join us" Wasp looked away. "All very fine, Blackarachnia…" Blitzwing switched faces "But we must crush the scum responsible for destroying Megatron!" Lugnut looked enraged "No! Megatron lives! I feel it in my central processor" Both looked to Starscream for his opinion.

Starscream was prepared for the possibility of Megatron being terminated, but tried to keep his cool. "We have no solid evidence of Megatron's condition. Perhaps the answers we seek may be found on that planet." Starscream pointed to Earth. "Blackarachnia, Wasp, take the ship to the planet while the rest of us prepare for transition" Wasp was confused "Why spider-bot need ship?" "Because, the one side-effect of my technorganic form I don' enjoy is my inability to survive in environments the others can, like space." Wasp understood. The Decepticons spread out.

Wasp and Blackarachnia were in the atmosphere when something whizzed passed them. "Starscream, something went past us in the atmosphere. Just felt I should warn you" "_Affirmative, Blackarachnia_"

The space probe landed on the moon, searching for something. Two voices chirped out of it as it observed the landscape. "Lunar Rover's picking up some serious seismic activity." "Must be an asteroid impact. Bring it around for a closer look" The rover then spotted the _Nemesis_, and magnified the image. "What is that thing?" "Whatever it is, it's no asteroid." Then the rover spotted two UFOS. "Something's moving" was the last thing the rover uttered before Lugnut landed on it, Blitzwing beside him. "Careful, you copper-clad klutz! You stepped in something" Lugnut looked at his foot to see the smooshed remains of the rover. Blitzwing switched to his 'Witty Jester' face "But with a few dancing lessons, you'll be light on your stabilizing servos like me. Cha-cha-cha" Blitzwing did a little jig while Lugnut scraped the metal off his foot. "_Did you two find the UFO?_" Starscream chimed in. "We did, and there's nothing left to salvage, thanks to me" "_Lugnut, you fool! Get to the planet now! I'm already en-route_" Both looked up to see a trail of smoke. They trailed after it. Blitzwing switched faces "Once we're down, may I do the thinking, please?" Lugnut grunted in affirmation.

Optimus surveyed the screens. Since they had taken over Detroit Optimus had devoted his time to finding the AllSpark and any possible Decepticons in hiding. "Freeze that image" He told the humans. The image froze focusing on a large foot. "Those trails can only be made in space by Cybertronians in transition mode" Optimus pondered. "We Autobots have no need to, which means…" He activated his comlink "Attention all Autobots, we have possible Decepticon contacts coming our way. Alert the Airforce, all armed humans. Just make sure they don't leave this planet!"

**US airspace**

Five harrier jets patrolled the skies over Detroit. The military had remained neutral during the war, despite both sides pleading them to join them. The higher-ups would admit that if they had chosen a side the war could have ended quickly, but at the cost of many more lives. The jets detected something in their territory. It didn't have an ID code; instead it had a much higher body temperature. The lead jet attempted to make contact "Unidentified aircraft entering airspace over Michigan. Identify yourself or you will be treated as a hostile." Starscream hovered down in front of them, hands in the air. "I mean you no harm!" The pilots didn't listen, however, and opened fire. Starscream ducked into the clouds to lose the jets. He snuck up behind them and scanned the one at the back. His body shifted and melded until he transformed into an exact replica of a harrier jet.

**Downtown Detroit**

Bulkhead and Crosshairs raced towards the assumed crash site of the UFO. There was a plume of smoke rising from in between two buildings. "Why me?" Crosshairs complained "Why couldn't he send Scoop, Jazz or Goldbug?" Bulkhead transformed and started to counted off the reasons "Well Scoop obviously a useless coward, and the other two are pains in the skidplate" "Ehh… I'd still rather be kicking back at the moment" The two bots examined the ship, one of their own. "Boss-bot, we found the UFO. It's an Autobot ship, but there's no one inside" "Are there any energy signals?" "No, sir."

Then, something inside the ship began to beep. "It's set to self-destruct!" Crosshairs yelled, too late as the explosion flung the two Autobots back and caused the two buildings to collapse upon each other. "That right there is a thing of beauty" Bulkhead said, enamoured with the pile of wreckage. Crosshairs begged to differ. "When we get back I'll get Ratchet to defrag your logic circuits"

Neither of them noticed a small red car speed off or a black shape slink away…

**Construction site**

Lugnut and Blitzwing landed smack-bang in the middle of a construction site. They were hoping that the Autobot were on this planet. As they emerged from their craters they noticed small organic creatures screaming in fear, as well as small robotic life forms swarming above them. Blitzwing crushed and swatted them away. "These can't be those miserable Autobots! They are far too small!" He spotted a crane and switched faces "But look at that one. It's big, it's bold, it's sassy!" "Don't be ridiculous, Blitzwing!" Lugnut said. "If that construction vehicle _was_ an Autobot it would be attacking by now"

Jazz observed the two Decepticons from inside an incomplete building. He sat in a meditative position and began to hum. Using his processor-over-matter technique he took control of the crane, swung it around, and smashed Blitzwing in the head with its wrecking-ball. Blitzwing switched faces "Whose side are you on?" He asked Lugnut. Lugnut grew impatient and began to activate his explosive punch. Jazz observed the two bickering and saw an opportunity to strike. He leapt out at what he perceived to be the right moment… when Lugnut hit the ground…

There was a flash of light, then smoke, and then a large crater. Within it was the wrecked crane, an inert Jazz and the two Decepticons. "Why do I always stick by you, Lugnut?" "If you're not pleased with the way I do things perhaps you should talk to Starscream" As if on cue Lugnut's comlink beeped. "_Lugnut, was that explosion you?_" "Yes, Starscream" "_What part of 'keep a low profile' do you not understand?_" Blitzwing interceded "If I may intrude, Starscream. It seems we did take out one Autobot. An Elite Guard member, no less" "_Right now all you two need to do is get to cover and find disguises. Once we're sure it's safe we'll meet up when I give the signal_" "Affirmative"

The two then heard the sounds of sirens heading their way. The two flew off and landed in a military airfield. Lugnut spotted a bomber, went over and began scanning.

Blitzwing observed the two choices before him, but his split personalities could not agree on one mode. "I will choose this fighter jet" "No, the assault tank!" "Jet" "Tank!" "Jet" "Tank!" "Jet" "Tank!"

"Choose already, Blitzwing!" Lugnut yelled. He aimed one of his bomber guns, and shot, jolting Blitzwing's head to switch to his jester face "Why not scan both?" It suggested. Blitzwing did so, and parked as the fighter jet.

**Autobot base AKA the warehouse lab**

Ratchet was patching up Bulkhead, Crosshairs and Jazz as best he could. He had knocked them out so he wouldn't have to put up with their inane banter while he worked. If they still hurt when they woke up, well, life was pain. Ratchet had learned that the hard way. "Okay, Scoop. Breathe in, breathe out. Just relax" CB said, trying to reassure Scoop. "How can I? There's _slagging Decepticons_ on this planet, _coming to kill us_!!!" "_It'd probably do the planet a lot of good, then_" Ratchet thought. "Without Megatron the Decepticons are a disorganised mess. And they won't last much longer anyway" "What makes you so sure, kid – I mean, sir?" Optimus smirked "Because I may have found the location of the AllSpark"

Goldbug drove CB to Sumdac Tower, hoping to find something they could use to fight the Decepticons. CB tried to use her security card, but it wouldn't work, for some reason. "Step aside, Circuit Breaker." Goldbug activated his stinger and jabbed them into the control panel. The doors opened. "Was that really necessary, Goldbug?" "Of course a little pain's necessary, for all life forms. Can't grow and learn without it, can we?" CB turned away.

They made their way into a side lab, to find anything that they could use. While most of it was useless junk, Goldbug did find something that caught his interest - a pair of blue coloured rocket-like things. He tried putting them on his wrists "What are these meant to be - rocket launchers, because they don't look too effective" CB sighed. "No, they're rocket _boosters_. My dad made them for vehicles that wanted to go at high speeds" Goldbug's faceplate lit up. "Sweet!" CB showed him around "These are rocket launchers. There's also construction upgrades, jump-jet boosters, glop grenades, the works" Goldbug loaded up the upgrades into a trailer, and pulled it away with some effort.

Underneath the Tower, the electricity from Goldbug's stinger was making its way down the wires towards Professor Sumdac's secret lab. It reactivated several systems, one in particular, what seemed like a large centrepiece. Its lights lit up and it started to splutter.

"All… AllSpar… Mega… Me… Meg… Me… I am Megatron"

**Author's notes**

Taking a hint from reading Darth T-Rex's works, I'm going to use specific fonts for Blitzwing's personalities form the next chapter on.

Plain: Compassionate Icy

**Bold: Brave Hothead**

_Italic: Witty Jester_

I'm not sure when to introduce certain characters, or under what circumstances I will introduce them.

The ones I will be introducing are:

*Lockdown

*Wreck-Gar

*Soundwave

*The Dinobots – Including Animated versions of Sludge and Snarl (The stegosaurus), whom I'm going to call Irontail.

*The Constructicons – Excluding Dirt Boss

*The Starscream clones

I'm not sure if I should more Autobots from Cybertron. But Megatron will be back.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The night sky of Detroit was lit by the radiant moon and the street lights. Occasionally a blimp would pass over the city. Hiding on one of those blimps was Starscream, Blitzwing and Lugnut. They were waiting for Blackarachnia and Wasp to catch up. "What odd creatures" Blitzwing murmured. "All scurrying around like so many nanobots" Lugnut grunted "Will you shut it down for two cycles? I can't hear myself think" "You mean you can't hear those voices in your head" Blitzwing muttered.

Then something grabbed onto the blimp, almost dragging it down. Starscream looked down to see Blackarachnia clutching onto Wasp and the web rope she was using. Starscream pulled her up. "Sorry we're late. So, what did we miss?" "Nothing yet. But we can't delay much longer. I'm detecting at least two Autobot energy signals heading towards the nearby body of water." "I think the humans call it Lake Erie" "What does it matter what the organics call it?" Lugnut asked "They are insignificant!" "**Will you keep it down?**" "If duty requires it, we will protect the humans if necessary" Starscream said tapping Lugnut on the chest "That means 'no killing'" "I know what it means, Starscream! I am not as dumb as I look!" "I know, and it's always worried me and Megatron"

"Can Decepticons get show on road?" Wasp asked. "Indeed. Decepticons, as Megatron used to say, 'transform and rise up'!"

Starscream and the other fliers transformed. Wasp grabbed onto Blitzwing and Blackarachnia took Lugnut.

**North Sister Island**

Optimus carried CB across the lake. CB had never flown before, and it was rather scary for her. But she couldn't show weakness in front of her leader. In fact, that was why he took her with him, security card, scooter and all, while she was minding her own business. They landed on the coast. "So, what's this 'AllSpark' we're looking for?" "It is the life source of our race and our trump card against the Decepticons. That's all you need to know. Now spread out and search. I'll contact you when the others get here"

Optimus slashed through the jungle. He was always fascinated with the possibilities of organic life. He figured this place could be used as a fortress, if properly supplied and defended. Unfortunately, the abundance of organic life on this island was scrambling his sensors.

CB had never been nature hiking either, and it also freaked her out. But, anything that came her way she just blasted. No big deal. Then she felt something… something, surging. CB scrambled through to the top of the mountain. There she found a large box covered with foliage. She brushed it away and tried to open it. "Come on, come on! Why won't you open?" She banged on the container. Suddenly it opened, and CB saw a beautiful blue sphere. Staring at it, she suddenly saw a number of images, probably Cybertronian things flash into her mind, then a number of images flash from her mind to it. "Did we just have a conversation?"

Then the AllSpark shot out at CB security card, turning it into a red metal key shape. CB was furious "If you mess this up, you owe me my security deposit" She took the key off her neck, looked at it and threw it to the ground, towards her scooter. Then it suddenly glowed and was dragged towards the scooter. The key was inserted into the scooter, which glowed, shifted into something and then back into a scooter. CB looked at the scooter and activated it. Then it shifted into an odd shape and shot up into the air.

CB couldn't believe it. Her scooter could now turn into a jetpack! The jetpack came down onto the ground. CB began to think "_I'm not gullible, Optimus. The AllSpark is no mere weapon, no simple energy source. It is power - Ultimate, unfathomable power. You know and I know. But, unlike you, I'm going to use it_" She walked towards the AllSpark and placed her hand blasters on it. "Come on! Give all you got!" The AllSpark glowed and engulfed CB. "What's happening to me?" She then began to upgrade. She felt taller… faster… stronger… smarter… ""It's working!" The glow faded away to reveal CB, not as a young child, but as a technorganic teenager in robot mode. Something began to beep "Uh-oh. My warning diode must be activating. Display visual" The hologram showed a rough representation on a harrier jet, a bomber, a fighter jet, and two humanoid figures riding on them. "_Circuit Breaker, did you find anything?_" "I've found jets coming toward the island" "_Forget it. I'm coming over_" Then the transmission was cut off. CB strapped on her jetpack, put on her key and sped off through the undergrowth.

On the coast, the Decepticons had landed, Starscream taking Optimus by surprise. "Decepticons, I knew you'd come here." "There's no need for violence, Autobot." Starscream greeted "Why are you here?" "I'd ask you the same question. It can't be for Megatron, because he's been scrap for 50 stellar cycles" This remark caused Starscream to fly into a frenzy "Shut up!" He said and shot at Optimus with his null rays. "If Megatron is dead, then you will surely pay!" Optimus activated his axe and took off. Starscream was shocked. "Impossible! Autobots don't fly!" "If you believe that then the whole galaxy is unimaginative!" Starscream flew up to face Optimus. "We shall decide this battle, servo to servo" "Bring it on, Decepticon"

As Starscream and Optimus clashed, the other Decepticons searched the area, weapons readied. Blitzwing was circling the island when he looked out to sea. "The Autobots are heading our way" "**I will send them the way of the Titanic!**" "_And then we'll paint moustaches on their faceplates. Moustaches are funny! Ahahahahahaha!_"

All the Autobots, except Ratchet, loaded off the ship, brandishing their new weapons.

* Bulkhead was equipped with air-to-air missiles and a saw blade that could slice through iron ore asteroids

* Prowl was equipped with jump-jet boosters and his shuriken

* Goldbug was equipped with his beloved rocket boosters

* Scoop was equipped with glop grenades

* Crosshairs was equipped with his triple-crusher cannon

* Jazz had his nun chucks in addition to sound speakers for sonic attacks

They spread out into the forest, smashing through everything in their way. Goldbug, however, got lost. "Bumble-bot!" He heard someone cry out. Goldbug stopped dead in his tracks, stumbled around and found himself face to face with Wasp. "Wasp! Shouldn't you be in the stockade?" "Shouldn't Bumble-bot be on the scrap-heap?" Wasp shot at Goldbug, who flew up into the air, and came down with his stingers. "Nice try, Bumble-bot, but you not Lug-bot" "Aw, you made some new friends in your damaged processor, Wasp?" Goldbug taunted. He didn't notice Lugnut stand up behind him and smack him aside. "_What next?_" He thought. Goldbug heard Scoop screaming and coming down towards him. "_I had to-_" As Scoop landed on him, Goldbugs thoughts were cut short.

Blackarachnia was standing atop the body of Bulkhead, Using her special downloading powers she had simultaneously knocked out Bulkhead and borrowed his strength, which she had used to take Scoop out of the picture in one punch.

Blitzwing was wandering, searching for the two Cyber-Ninjas. "**Come back here so I can pull your pistons out through your tailpipes!**" "_Oh, and void your warranty with excess wear and tear!_" Then a deafening sound blasted his audio circuits and two shurikens slashed at his legs. Crosshairs stepped forward, pointing his cannon at Blitzwing "I'd prefer my warranty intact. So, if you'd just leave us alone, that would be fine" Blitzwing grabbed Crosshairs and held him in front of him "I hate taking hostages, but you have left me no choice. Release your weapons" Prowl just performed a powerful roundhouse kick with his jump-jet boosters to Blitzwing, which knocked Crosshair's battered chassis away. Prowl kicked again, the jumped up, took a shuriken…

Blitzwing transformed to tank mode, and froze Prowl, who crashed hard onto the ground. Jazz grabbed onto Blitzwing, who transformed and took off into the air. He didn't notice a small blue object heading his way. "Hi-yaaa!" It screamed, blasting Jazz off Blitzwing, who was sent spinning through the air. "_Ooh, dizzy! Not liking the dizzy!_"

Blitzwing collided with Lugnut, who transformed him to robot mode. "What in the name of Decepticon is that?" "Readings indicate a surge in AllSpark energy" "Coming from that thing?" "Yes, but also from… down there?" CB then started shooting at them. "Fool! No one moves Lugnut!" "**What kind of Autobot are you?**" "The kind that can kick your skidplates in a nanosecond!" CB pulled out a blade and an energy hammer, raced towards them and beat them up badly, sending them crashing to the ground.

Optimus was beginning to tire of his fight with Starscream when his enemies comlink came on "_Help! Give me a hand, or a foot! How about a pelvis?_" "Blitzwing?" "Starscream, we may have found the AllSpark" "Understood, Lugnut. I'm on my way" Optimus screamed and smashed the comlink before racing off. Starscream transformed and chased after him.

CB observed the wrecked chassis of Lugnut and Blitzwing. As she cackled slightly she saw Wasp and Blackarachnia come out of the forest. Blackarachnia tied CB up in webbing. "What are you?" CB didn't answer. Optimus came crashing down. "Why, it seems she's the perfect fusion of organic and technological - in other words, a success. Which is more than I can say for you, Elita-1" "It's Blackarachnia now, Orion!" Blackarachnia swung at Optimus who threw her off. "And it's _Optimus_ now, 'Blackarachnia'!"

Blackarachnia stumbled back "I'm never going back to Cybertron! Not while Ultra Magnus still oppresses it!" "In that case, why not join me and the wait will be over quicker?" Blackarachnia spat acid at him "Never! You're the one who experimented on me in the first place!" "So unwise" Optimus said as he raised his axe. He was stung by Wasp "Autobot not hurt Wasp's friend!" Then Wasp was pulled back into the air by CB, who fused his stingers together and dropped him to the ground.

Starscream screamed past CB, sending her screaming and spiralling towards the forest. He transformed and grabbed the AllSpark. But Optimus grabbed it as well. "Give me the AllSpark!" "In the name of Megatron, you shall not have the AllSpark or me" "If I can't have the AllSpark, then no one shall." Optimus pulled out his axe and started hacking away at the crystal. Blackarachnia pulled Optimus off, while Starscream swung around and tossed the AllSpark with such force that it flew into space. The gust also blew away the shards that were hacked off.

Optimus was enraged. "What did you do? Where is the AllSpark" "Someplace where you will never find it" "NEVER!" Optimus roared as he blasted off towards space "NO PLANET CAN EVER ESCAPE MY WRATH!" Starscream blasted his jetpack to pieces and watched as he crashed back down towards the island.

Starscream landed to attend to his comrades. "Did he harm you, Blackarachnia?" "Not too much" She looked to Wasp "Thank you, my friend" "Wasp understand if Spider-bot have problems with Autobot" Starscream helped Lugnut and Blitzwing to their feet. "What happened to the AllSpark?" "I sent it into space to keep the Autobots away." He looked guilty "Now that I have time to relax, I wonder if it was the right thing to do" Blitzwing put his hand on his shoulder "You turned our certain doom into a fighting chance" "Decepticons, this is an uneasy victory we have won. The Autobots on this planet pose a major threat, and we must work to defend it. Only then can we hope to follow our main objective"

Starscream held out his hand "I vow to defend this planet with my ember. Who's with me?"

"I am"

"Wasp trust Flying-bot"

"I just know I'm going to regret this"

"I am…" "**…with you…**" "_… all the way!_"

**Autobot Headquarters**

Ratchet turned to see the Autobots stumble inside, cracked, and in need of several megacycles worth of repairs. Optimus groaned "Serves you right for going off half-cocked. Now I'll have to fix you all" "I'll take care of that, Ratchet" "I'm this team's field medic, kid!" "But I have this" CB swung her key around. She flew up, held the key in her hands, which glowed and engulfed the Autobots. When the glows subsided the Autobots were fully repaired. Ratchet gaped in disbelief.

"That is quite the cure" Prowl groaned. "Are the Decepticons gone?" Scoop asked "Far from it" Optimus growled "But the AllSpark is out there. We'll crush the Decepticons for that, but we need strategy, numbers, and more luck than I imagined"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The Autobots were currently working on the repairs to the Sumdac Robot Plant. "Fixing things? Isn't that where we started?" Crosshairs whined. "It's where _you_ started." Jazz said, slamming some metal bars onto the ground. "I'm a Cyber-Ninja! I don't deserve the things that have happened to me" At that time some reporters were trying to get a fix on the situation. One of them snuck up behind Scoop, which scared him into transforming. "Get away! Get away!" As he towered over the female reporter, she felt a sense of dread. "Alright, I'll leave!" She said as she ran off. "Why? Why does everyone hate us? Not all reporters are self-centred liars"

Scoop didn't listen, instead standing in rapt amazement. "Those humans were… afraid of me?" "Can you blame them?" Ratchet grumbled "After all, we trashed several areas of their city" Prowl begged to differ "I believe the Decepticons did most of the trashing" "Yeah, but with no proof, who's gonna believe us?" Crosshairs asked. "We'll scare them into believing us" Bulkhead replied, smashing his fists together. Ratchet looked around "Hey, where's Goldbug? Isn't he supposed to be helping too?"

Goldbug was over at Sumdac Tower, assisting CB with the 'busywork' of Sumdac Systems. His earphones kept ringing constantly, and he kept getting calls from people unaware of Isaac Sumdac's death, and it would be in their best interests if they didn't know exactly who was running Detroit now. "Isaac Sumdac's office, please hold. Isaac Sumdac's office, please hold. Isaac Sumdac's office… No. Professor Sumdac still hasn't returned from his… extended vacation. _Of course_ someone's running the company! Someone very capable."

CB was inside her father's old office, surrounded by papers. "Argh! No wonder my dad acted so crazy. How'd he do all this?" She got a call from her desktop. On the screen appeared an image of a Sumdac Systems employee, Henry Masterson. "Mistress Circuit Breaker, we've searched the labs and have found nothing of further value" "And the police drones?" "They're being repaired. Although, I do have schematics and a prototype for a new kind of police drone" CB was intrigued. "I'd like to see it, if it's not too much trouble, Mr Masterson" "Thank you, Mistress"

Meanwhile, underneath the Sumdac Laboratories, the head of Megatron was downloading information and looking up recent broadcasts concerning the Autobots. "_This can't be happening_" He thought "_Surely the humans must see the Autobots for what they really are_" Then he realised, if anyone did see they were probably being silenced right now. Then he saw that robot he had fought fifty stellar cycles ago, Orion Pax. "As long as this city is under Circuit Breaker's rule and mine, there will be no dissidence. Not from humans, not from leaderless Decepticons, not from anyone!"

Optimus' words almost pained Megatron "They don't even know I'm alive" He muttered. If only he could do something, but he was helpless - immobile! Energy jolted through his circuits and into a claw, which started to move, catching Megatron attention. He tried it again and the claw moved and picked up a small device. "Perhaps I'm not as immobile as I thought" He looked at the device. It seemed to be the perfect spy. "There may be more than one way to locate the AllSpark, and possible allies"

**In the nearby forest**

Within a forested area outside Detroit, there was an abandoned mine, with tunnels and caverns large enough to house several transformers. After escaping North Sister Island, the Decepticons had made their home here. It was far from perfect, dark, dry and devoid of technology.

"Why do we hide here like cowards?" Lugnut asked, raising his arms "We should stand and fight the Autobots!" His left arm fell off, for Lugnut was still a bit banged up after the battle. "Undisciplined thinking can make even the simplest task impossible, Lugnut, especially in your condition" Starscream lectured. Taking over as leader was still a large task ahead of him. "These carbon deposits will shield us from detection from Autobots" Blitzwing piped up "In that case, we will have to stay here forever, cut off from the world if we don't want to risk detection" "Nonsense. I've sent Blackarachnia out to get the right broadcasting equipment, and Wasp to the lake to salvage anything from the Autobot ship."

Lugnut was trying to reattach his arm when Blitzwing switched faces "_Then, while we're here, let's play hide and seek!_" Lugnut swung his dismembered arm at Blitzwing to shut him up. But Blitzwing jumped up and ran into a tunnel "_Count to ten, Lugnut! Ahahahahahaha!_" Lugnut growled and lumbered after him. "Oh, for spark's sake" Starscream face palmed and ran after them.

**Airfield**

CB and the Autobots had assembled in the airfield to where Masterson was about to unveil his project. It was a large object draped under a large sheet. Scoop was hiding, as always. "I call it…" Masterson pulled the drape off. "The Headmaster unit" It revealed a mid sized robot slightly larger than the already tall Masterson. The Autobots were slightly unimpressed, until a mock-warbot stumbled up behind them. "Now, say you're in battle, and your warbot runs out of ammunition" Masterson explained, putting on his suit and getting into the unit. "You use the Headmaster unit to take over another warbot" The robot transformed into a giant head. "_Looks stupid, sounds stupid. Overall, a waste of my time_" Crosshairs thought. The unit blasted up and hovered over the warbot. It shot out a laser, doing a full 360 around the head. The unit yanked the head off and attached itself to the body.

Masterson was happy with the results "You see? What greater weapon is there than to turn an enemy to your cause? To use their own knowledge and weapons against them."

"I quite like it. What's your opinion, Optimus, sir?" CB turned to Optimus, who drew his axe "I think it's brilliant, by human standards, but too dangerous." He walked towards the warbot. "What are you doing?" Masterson asked, terrified. "Your technology could be used against us. And that I cannot allow" Optimus hacked the warbot's limbs off before knocking the Headmaster unit off. The unit crashed to the ground, send Masterson sprawling out. "Get him out of here" Optimus told Crosshairs, who obliged.

**Lake Erie**

Wasp was driving underwater towards the Autobot ship. When Blackarachnia repaired him, she had also granted him the ability to switch between energy signals. That way he could walk into any Autobot complex without being detected.

Before going inside, Wasp transformed and searched the hull of the ship. Most large Autobot ships carry a tachyon transmitter for long-distance communication. Wasp could find it, so he assumed it had been crushed during the landing, or was inside the ship. He went inside and began rummaging through the control consoles. "What did Jet-bot say transmitter look like?" Wasp eventually found it, a box with two prongs on top. "Wasp to Jet-bot. Wasp found tachyon transmitter." He heard the sound of scuffling in the background. "Good work, Wasp. We'll come to help salvage the rest of the ship. Lugnut, put Blitzwing down! We've got salvaging to do"

**Detroit**

The pocket bot Megatron had found was wandering aimlessly through the streets, trying to find some sign of an Autobot. He didn't have to wait long, as Goldbug and Jazz came racing down the streets at high speeds. Just before it was crushed it grabbed onto Goldbug and sent out a tracking signal, catching the attention of a certain black widow.

"Give it up, Pretty-Boy! You're never going to top my time!" Goldbug yelled. "Sorry, can't hear you, Pipsqueak! This music is too wild for my ears to ignore!" Jazz made unnecessary, over the top stunts, crushing a lot of cars. "Geez, that's not how I'd prefer to attract attention" "Destroy it with style of don't bother destroying it at all"

But their bickering was halted when Jazz crashed headfirst into a police car, which flung out its surviving occupant – Henry Masterson.

Goldbug and Jazz transformed, Jazz rubbed his head in pain. "Whoever dinged up my paintjob will be sorry he ever crossed me!" Masterson didn't know what to do. Had Optimus changed his mind and decided to have him killed instead? "Hey, it's that wacko scientist Circuit Breaker told us about. Should we kill him?" Suddenly, a shot of webbing grabbed Masterson and flung him into the hands of Blackarachnia "Sorry, boys. No one's killing anybody" Goldbug shot at her but Blackarachnia leapt into the distance. Jazz couldn't attack because the collision had broken his concentration.

Masterson stared up at the creature that had saved him. "Whoever you are, ma'am, you saved my life. Thanks" "Don't mention it. My name's Blackarachnia. Can I assume that you aren't a fan of the Autobots" "You got that right! They tried to kill me all because they thought my tech was too dangerous for them" This got Blackarachnia's attention. "Are you a scientist of some sort?" "Yep. I was second only to Isaac Sumdac." "I'm a scientist too. Perhaps you'd like to help me and my friends?" Masterson pondered it for a while. "Mmm, okay. When do we start?"

**Decepticon HQ**

Starscream and Blitzwing were busy fixing and supervising everything they had salvaged from the Autobot ship, including a tachyon transmitter, a plasma dynamic thruster and a retrieval beacon generator. As they were observing Blackarachnia came in carrying Masterson.

"Blackarachnia, you're late. Were you detected?" "No, Starscream. You know my organic nature is undetectable by sensors" Lugnut, feeling a bit suspicious, stalked over. "Why do I sense we've picked up _another_ pathetic life form?" He asked. Master stepped out, insulted. "Hey, what is your problem, big guy? Blackarachnia told me you're supposed to be good" "You just have a way with words, Lugnut." Starscream came over. "Why is a human here?" "His name is Henry Masterson. He's a scientist and an enemy of the Autobots"

"How can we trust the humans, Starscream, when one had already joined the Autobots?" "How can we earn their trust with you blowing them off all the time, Lugnut?" Masterson dropped on his knees "Please, just give me a chance to prove myself. I'll show you I can help" "Very well. Blitzwing, show him the tachyon transmitter"

Blitzwing brought him up to the transmitter. "Are you familiar with interstellar communication, Professor Masterson?" "It's just Mr Masterson, I never made it to being a Professor. But I was a hacker for Professor Sumdac during the war. If it's communications you need, I can do it" Blitzwing opened the panel. "Do it, carefully"

Masterson got to work as Starscream explained "Each of these tachyon transmitters has a retrieval for any previous messages it received. Maybe, just maybe if we can access that, we can find something of worth" "Okay, I'll just rewire the last three relays, and… Aha! Got it!"

The transmitter started to fizzle. Then a voice came in through the static. "_J…zz?… …on Pax?... Anyone?_" Wasp and Blackarachnia recognised the voice "That voice, it's Sarge-bot" "Sentinel's a drill sergeant now?" The transmission continued "_I'm warning… … on't respond, we'll be taking matters… … … … That's it!... We're sending reinfor… Any excuse you've g… … it for the court-…_" The transmission then degraded. "That can't be good" Masterson said.

"The Autobots are sending reinforcements to Earth." Blitzwing summed up. "Can we contact Shockwave?" Starscream shook his head "Not until I get the tachyon transmitter working properly again" Lugnut stomped his foot. "No more delays! _We_ need reinforcements, and we need them now!" "How? We're all alone on this planet. The humans are too scared to speak out, and brainwashing is not part of our ethics."

"Maybe we get to ship?" "You mean this pile of scrap, fool?" "No, Decepticon ship!" Starscream realised what Wasp meant. "Blast me for being a fool! The protoforms!" Starscream took charge again. "Blackarachnia, Mr Masterson, get the plasma-dynamic thruster and retrieval beacon generator working together! Lugnut, Wasp, begin searching for AllSpark fragments! Blitzwing, help me begin making shells"

As the Decepticons scrambled to work, in space a large ship, the _Steelhaven_, came closer and closer to Earth.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

All the Autobots were out searching for AllSpark fragments, all except Optimus of course. He was too busy watching the monitors for any sign of incursions in their sector. "_OP, this is Jazz. We haven't found any fragments, sad to say_" Optimus groaned. He needed results, not excuses. "_I don't understand why we don't just fork over the technorganic and her key_" Optimus slammed his fist on the table. "Because. We. Need. Her. Can't you get that straight?!" Jazz jumped back slightly on the view screen. "But, when I do find a way to extract the energy from her body, you can have the pleasure of squashing her" "_That ain't gonna sit well with Goldbug. You know him, he's kinda hoping to do it himself_" "You'd be surprised at how little I care about how he feels. Now keep searching. And, by the way, if you find any Decepticons, bring them in online to secure our credibility"

**Docks**

Jazz, Scoop and Crosshairs were snooping around the docks, hoping to find some form of AllSpark energy. But the fact that CB was with them was driving them mad. Worst of all was the stench created by the humans' filth. "This is even less dignifying than repairing space bridges" Jazz complained. Crosshairs was digging through a mountain of garbage when he came across a human vehicle. He held it above his head when someone called out to him. "Hey, that's my car!" Crosshairs looked to see a middle-aged human at his feet "Put it down, now!" "Yeah, yeah, yeah" Crosshairs idly tossed the car into the ocean while the human stared in amazement. "You… you… you're going to pay for that! All you lousy alien machines, you're going to pay, I swear!"

Crosshairs stomped the ground and leered over the human. "_Pay?_ _You're_ the one who parked that thing under a mound of filth!" The human wasn't fazed "It wasn't there when I parked my car!" Crosshairs grabbed him by the foot and sat down. "And how's that _my_ problem?" "Hey, you put me down! I know my rights! I'm calling the cops, or a tow truck!" Crosshairs was too bored to pay attention, but the words 'tow truck' made him think back to his old buddy Hoist on Cybertron.

At that moment Captain Fanzone drove up. "You, quit harassing the Autobot! You, put down the citizen!" Crosshairs dropped the human to the ground. "The city will cover the damages to your vehicle, mister. Now I suggest you go about your business" "This isn't over, tin-can!" Crosshairs yawned and yanked out his cannon, which caused the human to run for his life. "And you could stand to work on your people skills" "'People skills' are for bots who know how to use 'em. I just fix bridges for a can or two of oil" CB decided to step in. "He's just saying it would be a good idea, Crosshairs. And I sorta agree. It's bad when you make Jazz look like the nice one" Both Autobots yelled at the comment.

Fanzone's police radio crackled. "Captain, we're in pursuit of a red hatchback, similar to your car. We may need backup" "Wasp" Jazz muttered and transformed. "Come on, move it, Crosshairs" "Alright" Crosshairs transformed. CB's key then started to glow for a strange reason. "Why's my key acting like this?" "Unless it's a Scoop detector we don't care what it does" Crosshairs mumbled. "Now get in" As the group drove away, a beam of light shot out on one of the garbage barges, and out of the rubbish came a transformation sound, a robotic hand, and eventually a Jazz-sized robot made out of garbage, with wide blue eyes and a beard. "I am… What am I?"

There was another rumbling on the barge and out crashed Scoop. He'd figured his first alternate mode was too bulky (no pun intended) and had switched to a simple front-end loader. "Aw, come on, guys. Don't leave me here!" The garbage-bot saw Scoop and went to talk to him. "Hello. Do you know who I am?" Scoop turned around and shrieked when he saw him "A monster!" The garbage –bot took this in and smiled. "I am a monster!" he said cheerily. Scoop screamed, knocked the bot aside and rolled off.

The GB fell onto the garbage, which jolted his memory a bit. He got up "Uh… what am I again?" He picked up and read a candy wrapper, which didn't sound right. "There must be something in here that can tell me what I am!" He looked through the gigantic bin on his back. He pulled out a lamp-post, a canister and a bra. He chucked it away "Not my size. Can anyone help me find out what I am?" He looked up to see a blimp with billboards. One caught his attention. "Detroit Metro Police Department. 'We're here to help' Sounds good to me" He ran after the blimp, hoping to find a policeman.

**Detroit**

Optimus was monitoring the newsfeeds until he stopped. "All eyes are on the sky as a mysterious UFO from space has entered Earth's atmosphere heading straight for downtown Detroit" Optimus cursed his luck. It must be Decepticon reinforcements. No Autobot on Cybertron would care if he lived or not. In the unlikely event that they were Autobots, they were likely here for the AllSpark or Decepticons captives to interrogate, which he had neither of.

"Autobots, with me! Roll out!" The others transformed and followed Optimus to downtown Detroit. "Optimus to Sumdac Robot Plant. Send in the drones"

Everyone was crowded around the UFO, which was, in actuality the Autobot Elite Guard ship, the _Steelhaven_. Optimus and the group hid in the background, waiting for the drone swarm to arrive. The ship hissed as the loading ramp opened to reveal the assembled crew. The Autobots and humans gasped, while Optimus looked ready to kill. He recognised the Autobots assembled on the ship, some by name, others by appearance, one by both:

Sentinel Minor – The Autobot Optimus hated the most

Jetfire & Jetstorm – EG Junior Officers and Sentinel's top butt-kissers

Beachcomber – A pint-sized psycho

Powerglide – A nihilistic warrior

Warpath – A bruiser equal to Bulkhead in size and strength

Blurr – Data courier, fastest thing on wheels

Getaway – Worst. Freaking. Spy. Ever.

Windcharger – Enthusiastic and patient, perfect interrogator

Blaster – Hacker, with an ability to control other machines

Out of all those Autobots, Optimus considered Blaster the most hazardous to his mission, so he silently sent Prowl to take him out.

Sentinel gazed over the large crowd that had been drawn to their ship. "Alright, bots. Let's fan the area" He noticed his soldiers looking very uneasy about his orders. "Are you sure, Sir?" Getaway asked. "Those organics could contaminate us" His words were echoed in the twins' looks. "Well, we'll never know if we don't find out, will we? They're unimportant anyway. It's the AllSpark and the fugitives we're after."

"Thing is, Sentinel Minor, sir, I don't believe you. I think we should stay in the ship" Windcharger replied. Sentinel glowered at him. "I may be at the rank of Minor, but I'm still in charge of this mission. If you have a problem, I'll have Blaster transmit your misgivings to Ultra Magnus" That seemed to shut him up. But before Blaster could follow up on this threat, he was knocked off his feet by a pair of shurikens. "**What the spark was that?**" He asked in a heavily-modulated Slavic voice. The Autobots turned to find the humans fleeing as hundreds of police drones came firing at them. Blaster was struck down by two more shurikens before he could use his powers.

Warpath transformed to tank mode and ploughed through the drones with ease. But still more and more came. "It's no – BAM! – use! POW! These things are coming out faster than I can – BOOM! – smash 'em!" Windcharger used his magnets to crush a pair of drones before being shot in the back. Blurr cut down dozens with his super speed. Soon the whole area was clogged with wreckage. From afar, Goldbug sighed. "_Okay, I give_" He thought '_I'm officially no longer the fastest thing on wheels_'

Just when Sentinel thought it was over, the humans came out, reinvigorated, and started throwing produce and debris at them. They would have fired, but they were too distracted by the shields around their ship being opened, with them still outside! Panicked, the Autobots transformed and began to flee in different directions. "Where are you going, you cowards?! Get back in line! Argh!" Sentinel yelled as a rotten banana splattered his optic. "Hold on, people. Let me handle this." He heard a familiar voice say. Sentinel wiped away the banana to see just the bot he feared would be on this planet, surrounded by most of his crew. "I'll lay it on the line, Sentinel. When you come to _my_ planet, you follow _my_ rules. And my rules proclaim you and the rest of your Elite Guard sycophants, hostiles." Sentinel glared daggers at Optimus and the others.

"You are a fugitive, Orion Pax, in more ways than one. And this tops it off! You three, I'm going to give you the chance to back off while I handle this coward" Bulkhead leaned down to Goldbug "I don't think he remembers us" "And that's just how I wanna keep it."

Optimus lifted up into the air "My name is Optimus Prime, Sentinel _Protoform_! And your name will soon be 'worthless slag'!" He raised his axe and came down to slice Sentinel in half, but instead crashed onto his Skyboom Shield. "You're mad! You must be brought to justice" Optimus swung again. "Over my. Sparkless. Shell!"

Sentinel blocked again, knocked Optimus' axe away and caught his arm. Optimus grabbed the axe with his grapplers, which passed through Sentinel's arm, shearing it off as it came crashing down on Optimus' chest.

Sentinel yelled in pain. Optimus picked up the severed arm and smashed Sentinel to the ground with it. As he stared down at his rival he decided to turn his attention to the other escapees. "Run" was all he uttered. Sentinel adhered, transformed to his snow-plough truck mode and drove off. Optimus took the shield and dropped the limb to the ground. "What was that all about, Boss-bot?" Goldbug asked. "Shouldn't we be working with those Autobots" "Revenge can dominate a person's vision for certain moments, kid" Ratchet sighed, seeing that Optimus was still as volatile as ever. "As long as those other Autobots remain loyal to Sentinel and the Elite Guard, they are our enemies" Optimus said as he attached the shield to his arm. He turned to the Steelhaven as its shields came down. "The prize is ours"

Prowl rummaged through the ship, searching for the stasis cuffs Optimus wanted. "Why would he want stasis cuffs in the first place, when he can just create more of these damn shackles?" He found five boxes full of stasis cuffs, more than enough to subdue all members of both factions. "Good work, Prowl" Prowl turned to see the others come aboard. "Perhaps we should leave before the others-" Prowl was shocked by the shackles. "We leave carrying as much as we can salvage. Get moving!"

**Downtown Detroit**

"Move it, you worthless wreck!" A driver yelled as the garbage bot trudged down the street. Then a race-car with an Autobot symbol came speeding by "Out of the way, you walking pile of garbage!" The bot then turned to see a screaming front-end loader coming his way, piling up stuff as he drove wildly. "Oh terror! Oh danger! Oh terror and danger! And horror and danger! Wait, I said danger already. HELP!" Scoop kept scooping up until the pile stopped and caught a police car. Scoop burst through the mountain and ran off. The GB picked up the police car. "'Detroit Metro Police' Help at last!" He picked up a police officer, who looked none too happy to see him. "Excuse me. I was hoping you could tell me what I am." "You are interfering with police business. Please disperse"

Dejectedly, the bot walked off. He had no name for himself, but others seemed to. Thoughts raced through his head. '_Worthless wreck. - Walking pile of garbage._' How could he shorten it? The people who call him those names had put emphasis on the word of each sentence '_Wreck-garbage? No, that sounds too cheesy._' Then he figured it out. He stood proudly, now he had a name, but he still needed a purpose. Be he would find it, for his name is Wreck-Gar!

**Author's notes**

Wreck-Gar and the Elite Guard appear. I've always wanted to call Sentinel that. Sentinel Protoform - sums up the normal one's personality perfectly.

Can't spoil too much, but what will happen is… civil war!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Wreck-Gar sat in the alleyway he had decided to call his home, looking over the various things he had in his garbage bin – tools, spools, firecrackers, the works. As he was observing his possessions something crashed into the side of the entrance. Wreck-Gar turned to see a small red car. '_Maybe I can help_' He thought. He trundled over to the car, but it drove back, denting itself, and drove away from some other noises. "Autobots never take Wasp online!" It yelled in a buzzing voice as it drove away. Wreck-Gar pulled out a metal pole with wheels and chased after the car "I am Wreck-Gar! I take things online!"

Circuit Breaker, Jazz and Crosshairs were in hot pursuit of Wasp, until they lost him that is. Crosshairs tried his comlink. Maybe his charms would still work. "Now, Waspy, there's nothing to panic about. We just want to take you in and help you. Everyone'll help, including Goldbug" "_Bumble-bot lie! Wasp not listen! LALALALA!_" Wasp's new name for Goldbug made him shudder. It was remnant of his old life, which he would much rather forget.

"Wasp probably went this way" Jazz deducted. "WASP? WHERE?!" A voice shrieked. The other transformed and flung CB out before they collided with Scoop. "Well thanks, you useless protoform, the fugitive is escaping!" Crosshairs complained. Scoop groaned "Why is it always me?"

Wasp thought he'd lost his pursuers for good after he'd snubbed Bumble-bot, but he looked in his car mirror to see a giant orange robot heading towards him. "Why nobody leave Wasp alone? Wasp not do anything." Wreck-Gar didn't know what the car was saying but he saw a group of other vehicles and a human heading towards them.

The group transformed, stared dumbfounded at Wreck-Gar, suppressing Scoop's screams, then turned to the cornered Wasp, who transformed and activated his stingers. "Wasp never go back to stockade! _Never!_" CB approached Wasp cautiously "Listen, Wasp, this can all be settled painlessly, if you'd just-" Her words and smile were cut off by a close blast. "Back off, or Wasp kick all your skidplates!" Scoop and Crosshairs backed up. Jazz face palmed and turned to Wreck-Gar "Hey, you! You didn't back down. Give 'im everything you got!" Wreck-Gar nodded "Right, everything I've got" He began digging through his trash bin and tossing things like a catapult at both small robots. "Here, have this toilet! And this engine block! How about a nice side of boiled beef?" As Wreck-Gar continued to throw things – a motorcycle, a bath tub, a sofa – CB was knocked over allowing Wasp to roll out and escape. The others were speechless, until Crosshairs spoke. "I never thought I'd say this, Scoop, but I think we've just found a 'bot more useless than you" '_Great, just rub it in_' Scoop pouted quietly

Jazz drew his nun chucks in anger "What are you? What is he?" He asked CB "I don't know, but he's giving off a ton of AllSpark energy" She responded, he key glowing "I am Wreck-Gar. I give off a ton of AllSpark energy" Wreck-Gar glowed in a bright blue light as he said this. "So, what? An AllSpark fragment just brought a junkpile to life and made some new kind of Autobot?" Wreck-Gar cheerfully ripped off Scoop's insignia and placed it on his chest, eliciting a cry from Scoop. "I am Wreck-Gar. I am some new kind of Autobot" Jazz had had enough and glared straight at Wreck-Gar "Listen up, scrap heap" Jazz ripped off the Autobot insignia and stuck it back onto Scoop's face. "You ain't no Autobot and you ain't gonna _be_ no Autobot! You're only good for one thing – GARBAGE!" Wreck-Gar looked slightly hurt, but went back to his cheery self "I am Wreck-Gar. I am only good for one thing – GARBAGE!!! I must deliver garbage to all!" Wreck-Gar began to shift and change until he became a garbage truck. He backed up and flung a large heap of garbage onto the Autobots before driving off, leaving a trail of garbage behind him. "Oh man! This slaggin stinks!" Jazz wailed. "And people wonder why the Elite Guard is stagnating" Crosshairs moaned.

Lugnut was flying over the city, trying to keep as low a profile as possible. If it were up to him, the whole planet would know he was here! "_Blackarachnia to Lugnut, have you found anything?_" "No, Wasp has disappeared." "_Please make sure he's safe! I don't want him to get hurt._" Lugnut sighed in annoyance. He would find him, but only because they needed reinforcements. Suddenly his warning diode began to beep. "_Lugnut, are you listening to me?_" Lugnut cut her off and swooped down to find the source "AllSpark energy is spiking" He looked down on the road and found the source – a waste disposal vehicle. "That vehicle is not worthy to carry anything of our species" He growled as he landed in the military airfield.

Coincidentally, the vehicle arrived there. "Garbage for all! Come and get your garbage! Only slightly used!" Once he came face-to-face with a metallic grey and green bomber with painted jaws, Lugnut transformed and smashed the ground with his spiked mace. "Human, the AllSpark fragment! Now!" Wreck-Gar transformed "No humans here. I am Wreck-Gar. I am only good for one thing – GARBAGE!" Lugnut was confused at this odd greeting "Are you an Autobot?" "I am Wreck-Gar" Wreck-Gar's voice briefly changed to that of Jazz "I ain't no Autobot and I ain't gonna be no Autobot" Lugnut pondered for a while "We need men, so why not join us, the Decepticons?" "I am Wreck-Gar…" He pulled out a Decepticon insignia "Wreck-Gar the Decepticon!" Pleased with how that turned out, Lugnut thought of the possibilities. '_If the AllSpark can create life, this 'Wreck-Gar' must already have a spark - which makes the fragment rather superfluous…_'

The Autobots had split up into two groups – Circuit Breaker following the garbage-bot and Jazz, Scoop and Crosshairs following Wasp. Suddenly Jazz's group spotted two vehicles heading in their direction – a dark green dune buggy and a dark blue Cybertronian race car. Scoop collided with the dune buggy while the race car raced past them. Scoop looked up to see wide red eyes staring blankly at him, and screamed before being muffled by a cannon in his mouth "Cats in the cradle! _And_ the silver spoon! Now's your time to burn your mind!" The robot threatened, sounding completely brain-dead, before being knocked off by Jazz. "Shut up, Beachcomber" He snarled "How did you get here?" They turned around to see the race car hurtling back towards them. Crosshairs drew his cannon. "Oi, Zippy! Get back or I'll blow your hood off!"

The car transformed and skidded to a halt, stopping right in front of Crosshairs. "First of all, the name's not "Zippy"! As a matter of fact, I don't believe I've ever met another bot named Zippy, someone can only assume that you came up with "Zippy" in reference to my speed, which may be technically accurate, but lacks a certain creativity!"

Crosshairs and Scoop were amazed at the speed of which this malfunction was talking.

"More to the point, the name's Blurr! I'm an Autobot intelligence agent, sent to this planet by the Elite Guard under Sentinel Minor to retrieve Orion Pax's crew, the AllSpark and Orion Pax himself, who has just blown a decacycle of covert surveillance and careful planning, designed to conquer this planet for the Imperium. Everything was going according to plan when an army of attack drones and a subsequent attack by the native life forms, which caused a division in our ranks, leading to our scattered and sorry state you see right now. Got that so far?"

"Uh, could you repeat the last part?" "Which last part" "How about, everything after 'The name's not Zippy'?" Jazz brushed him aside. "SM's here? Where?" "We lost contact with Sentinel Minor after the attack. We can guess that he has escaped and is searching for us, assuming we can still trust you, Jazz?" Jazz smirked. "You gotta bomb we can use?" "Yes, what for?" "We're going to show the humans we truly mean business. When we find SM, we'll show him he can trust us"

Circuit Breaker followed the garbage trail, ignoring the smell, and found just the bot she was looking for. "Hello" Wreck-Gar greeted. "Would you like some garbage?" CB powered up her blasters. "Just hand over the AllSpark fragment and nobody gets hurt" Wreck-Gar searched through his bin. "Hmm, Allegiant Air tickets, Spark Records, frag grenades, mint gum?" CB groaned and flew up to his face, key in hand. "Frag it, I'll just rip it out of you myself" Lugnut came out of hiding, swinging his mace. "Why the AllSpark came to be with you, you abomination, I will never know!" CB blasted at Lugnut, who knocked them away with his mace, until one knocked it out of his claw. Frustrated, Lugnut powered up his explosive punch. "Ah, the Universal Greeting!" Wreck-Gar remarked. '_Oh, spark me_' Lugnut thought. "_Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong_" Wreck-Gar said, making strange finger movements before placing his palm on the explosive button…

BOOM!

CB was sent smack into a jet. When the smoke cleared, Lugnut and Wreck-Gar were standing in the middle of the crater. "Tell me why I should tolerate you for any longer" Lugnut said to a soot-covered Wreck-Gar. "Um, uh… why… why…? Gee, I guess there may not be. I am only good for one thing – GARBAGE!" Lugnut almost roared, but instead transformed. "Never mind. Let us return to base" Wreck-Gar climbed onto Lugnut as they flew away. Suddenly, they collided with a strange white and dark blue-coloured jet. "Such clunky, fat aircraft, these creatures make. Why? Do they have some kind of death wish?" Lugnut took offense and turned around. "You seem to, scum!"

Down by the bridge, Jazz dropped the bomb onto a nearby garbage scow. Dusting his hands he smirked. "Once that bomb hits the shore, who knows how many casualties there'll be."

Wreck-Gar held on for dear life as Lugnut fired on the strafing jet, garbage raining down onto the city in the process. Then he spotted two other shapes heading towards them. "Hello!" He called out to them. They raced past. "You should be faster, Powerglide" A green, grey, and purple bot with a visor said, "Or brother Jetstorm and I will beat you to prey" A black and red robot with a helmet and goggles finished. "Big deal. So beat me, you little brats" Powerglide replied, transforming.

"Is time to…" "Double up!" The twins said in unison. They combined in their jet modes and spun around to create a tornado. The two Decepticons were caught in their path and sent spinning towards the river. Fortunately, they landed on the garbage scow. Lugnut was briefly knocked out, but Wreck-Gar looked up to see a group of humans chattering amongst themselves, rather loudly. "They cheer for Wreck-Gar. I am only good for one thing – GARBAGE! Fear not, good people! Your garbage is coming!" On the bridge, Jazz saw the commotion, and his ember sank upon seeing Wreck-Gar. "Slaggit, he's gonna ruin everything!" He picked up Scoop and Beachcomber and landed on the garbage scow, weapons readied. "Gotta let your body move!" Beachcomber told Wreck-Gar, who was at the controls of the scow "Or another one bites the dust!" "No. I am Wreck-Gar. I am only good for one thing – GARBAGE!" He turned to Jazz. "I know what I am now, and it's all thanks to you" Jazz didn't reciprocate those feelings. "Get away from those controls, you malfunctioning slag heap!" Jazz used his P-over-M technique to try and gain control of Wreck-Gar, who pressed and drove back the controls randomly "I am Wreck-Gar. I am a malfunctioning slag heap!" He pressed down, breaking the controls and sending the barge at high speed. "You glitch-head! You'll destroy us all!" Scoop was shaking in fear "It's not true! No one is that stupid!" "I am Wreck-Gar. I dare to be stupid! I will destroy us all!"

Lugnut transformed and rose from the garbage, holding the bomb. He looked up towards Jetfire, Jetstorm and Powerglide. "Autobots!" He roared "Take what belongs to you!" He threw the bomb, which exploded, sending the fliers plummeting towards the barge. "Wreck-Gar, with me!" The Decepticons flew off as the Autobot fliers landed. As they got nearer, they lost their balance and fell off the barge, acting as a barrier against the scow and being crushed against the concrete. The humans scrambled as a truck ploughed through them with Blurr. Sentinel Minor transformed, nursing the stump of his arm, and looked at the Autobots. "Let's get this vehicle up and running, and these bots repaired"

On their way back to base, Lugnut and Wreck-Gar were conversing. "Don't let anyone tell you what you are. You are worth more than just garbage" Lugnut said. "You mean, I can be a hero if I want?" "Yes" Lugnut replied. Starscream might be satisfied with this news… _might_…

**Autobot HQ**

Optimus would not be satisfied with the news he would get. Once they had salvaged everything they could and taken it back to base, Optimus had retired to his quarters, waiting for the others to return. When they hadn't returned after two megacycles, he began to get concerned. Then something fizzled through on his vis-screen. It was his three missing Autobots. "Jazz, what took you so long? And why aren't you back at base?" "I am back at base, our new base" Optimus quivered with anger. Jazz had betrayed him! "Scoop! Crosshairs! You too?" "Sorry, boss, but the Elite Guard's mucho scarier than you" "Yeah, me too, like he said" Optimus was so angry he _didn't_ punch the screen. "Once we seek out your base with these coordinates, you're team's going to go 'boom'" Jazz hung up. '_Good luck trying. That code's fake. They all are_'

Optimus turned on his comlink. "Autobots, Jazz, Scoop and Crosshairs have betrayed us. I want everything of theirs out in the garbage, or in the incinerator!"

Prowl carried the stuff outside, seeing it as a waste to burn them up. Once he left a certain garbage truck transformed and grabbed the items. Cheerfully he announced "I am Wreck-Gar. I am a hero."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

It was barely three days after the _Steelhaven_ had been grounded. Since Jazz's defection, Optimus had grown less complacent and had decided to patrol the city to keep his enemies in check. Tonight he was on patrol with Ratchet and Goldbug. Ratchet was staring grimly into a window. "It's primitive. It's barbaric. There oughta be a law against it!" "It's just an auto supply store, Ratchet" "You mean they actually sell spare parts on the open market?" Optimus was confused. He did see the logic of selling those sorts of things openly during wartime, but the items here were laughably useless.

Just then Goldbug rolled out. "Hey, Boss! Check out my new horn!" Goldbug honked before transforming. "This place has the greatest stuff" He pulled an assortment of items out of his chest. "Fuzzy cube thingies, whatever this is, human female replica…" "You did seem to have a soft spot for the femme-bots, Goldbug" Goldbug froze up and squeaked, thinking of Circuit Breaker. "What? No way! You know how I work!" Ratchet walked up and hit him hard on the head. "Knock it off, kid! We're heading back to base, now!" "What crawled up your tailpipe? The night is still young, unlike some bots I know…" Optimus stepped in between "I tend to agree with Goldbug, ratchet. You don't seem to get out as often as you should"

Ratchet rubbed his arm. "Just got a funny feeling, is all. Old war wound's acting up again. Usually means trouble" Goldbug didn't want to hear it. "Aw, forget about the past. Loosen up! Enjoy the bright lights, the big city!" Suddenly, the street lights shut off. "Okay, enjoy the big city" To add to it, a strange muscle car crashed passed them. "One of Sentinel's maybe?" "No, too big. Too intimidating" Optimus summed up. "Goldbug, lights and sirens. We're taking him down!" Goldbug transformed and shot at the car with his stingers. The car dodged and turned around towards Optimus and Ratchet. Optimus noticed two civilians walking across the street at the time and halted, allowing the car to plough through, or maybe over them. Ratchet prepared his magnets but suddenly recognised something about the car…

**Cybertron (Flashback)**

"_Ratchet! Field tech Ratchet, report! What's your status?_" Ultra Magnus blared on Ratchet's comlink. There were shockwaves, explosions and laser fire all around him. "Decepticon fire everywhere, sir. We're pinned down!" A blast threw Ratchet off his feet and almost over the edge of a hole. He heard someone cry 'medic'. Ratchet looked down to see… a beautiful femme bot. "Ratchet, have you located the Intelligence Officer?" Ultra Magnus demanded. "Affirmative, sir, but so have the Decepticons" "Get her back to base in any condition – be it enlisted, incarcerated, or embalmed, I don't care!"

Brushing away the callousness of his orders, Ratchet landed using his magnets. "Something's wrong, Doctor. I can't feel my leg" That was because she had no left leg to speak of from the knee down. "For starters, you're in shock." He checked her optic with a flashlight. "What's your name, soldier?" He asked, feeling a bit more concerned than normal. "Ar – Arcee, sir" "Don't call me sir. I _work_ for a living. My name's Ratchet. Remember it." Ratchet activated his EMP Generator in order to ease the pain of her injured leg. "No! Don't use that. You could delete the access codes" Ratchet didn't speak, but instead just shut her down briefly. "Don't worry. This thing's way too low to do any permanent damage"

**Present day**

Ratchet stared blankly at the car and was knocked aside. He clutched at his leg where the spikes had pierced him, and could only watch as the car sped away. "I understand that you served in the war, Ratchet. But your actions over the past few stellar cycles have really proven otherwise!" Optimus lectured. "Don't lecture me, sir!" Goldbug stormed up "Why not! You froze up the way Scoop did against the Devastator Winds!" "I did not freeze up. Must have been a glitch in my systems" As they were speaking, the muscle car scanned images of the bots he'd just encountered, and identified them as Autobots.

**Autobot HQ**

When they got back to base, Ratchet had shut himself in his room to perform a self-diagnostic or two. But Optimus didn't care if he stayed in there forever; he was busy observing the muscle car with the others. "I've been monitoring all media for reports of power outages and this mysterious vehicle" Prowl reported. "Wait" He pushed some buttons, having found something – a news report – "_We take you live to our News 44 – copter following a high-speed police pursuit in progress._" The image switched from the human to the chase scene. "_As you can see from this angle, the street lights have been going dark in a pattern following the pursued vehicle_"

Ratchet peeked from behind a wall, watching the report, and getting that same feeling he had earlier that night.

**Cybertron (Flashback)**

Ratchet had finished his quick repairs on Arcee and transformed. "Let's get you out of here, soldier" He loaded her up into his trunk. "Too hot above ground. Better take the old tunnels." He drove in the direction of the tunnels, and looked back to see bright blue headlights. "Breathe my exhaust fumes, Decepti-creep!" Ratchet sped faster, right into the trap that had been set for him. His treads were busted, so he unloaded Arcee and transformed for battle. The pursuer transformed and stepped out to reveal a tall, lanky, skull-faced transformer. "I don't want to hurt you, medi-bot, but I can't let you leave with those access codes" Ratchet charged forward, but the bot flipped him over and held him to the ground. "That all you got? You're going to put me to sleep" Ratchet activated his EMP. "I'll put you to sleep, permanently!" The robot dodged the EMP blast and ran for Arcee. This put Ratchet in a bad mood and shot him in the back with his EMP generator. Before he fell down, the robot slipped a grenade right into Ratchet's face. All went black…

**Present day**

Ratchet came to his senses when he fell back onto the ground. He looked up to see Bulkhead in vehicle mode. "What the slag was that for?" "Eh, just wanted to make sure you were still online" Bulkhead wheezed in laughter and drove off. Ratchet growled and drove after him, to see where the other went.

The group had caught up with the police following the muscle car, lights going out as described. Optimus transformed, flew up and slammed right in front of the muscle car, denting a fuel truck. Since his battle with Starscream, his rebuilt jetpack was only good for high jumps instead of long distance travel. The other Autobots were in pursuit, until the car shot out something. All went black, then when it cleared up the car disappeared. "Hey, no far!" Bulkhead yelled. Ratchet transformed and skidded to a halt. "That car… the blackouts…" Things were adding up…

**Cybertron (Flashback)**

Ratchet was busy at work in his underground lab. Arcee was resting nearby and the bot who attacked them was strapped to a table. "He should be waking up soon" Ratchet rubbed his face, he had repaired the damage done by the grenade, except for his broken chevron. The bot began to stir. "Wh.. what is this? Where am I?" For some reason he couldn't feel his right arm. He looked down and gasped loudly. His right arm had been replaced with a hook hand!

"You don't like it?" Ratchet asked, disappointed. "But almost everyone has two hands! Five digits? Pffff, how boring! You... you're more interesting now!" "You know me?" "Not by name, no, but I do know your reputation – 'the bounty hunter who never gets paid'" The bot scowled "My name is Lockdown, and I'm a real freedom fighter." "Why bother?" Ratchet asked "If Megs had just kept to his studies, he wouldn't have created needless suffering with his stupid lackeys" "No! Ultra Magnus created needless suffering!" Lockdown glanced at his hook hand "You and the rest of the Autobots are the barbarians!" "Oh, shut up!" Ratchet punched him, knocked a tooth or two loose. "I've got a delivery to make. If Ultra Magnus is forgiving, maybe he'll hire you" Lockdown breathed heavily. He would never serve one as ember-less as Ultra Magnus.

**Present day**

Optimus readied his shoulder cannons "You must be new, and thus not familiar with Autobot law, but you'll soon find out" Suddenly, the muscle car shifted, folded and transformed. "Autobot law is a travesty, and yours isn't much better!" He replied, blasting Optimus with a hand-mounted gun "Bots usually call me Lockdown" He picked up Optimus and disappeared in a blast of smoke. Ratchet yelled wordlessly at the empty space.

"My scans show no sign of Prime or the muscle car" Prowl reporting, looking at his map. Goldbug was in disbelief. "How does some human just disappear with Prime and mask his energy signature?" Everyone looked at Ratchet. "Something you're not telling us about this muscle-car guy?" Bulkhead asked. "It's not a guy, and it's not a car. It's a Decepticon." Ratchet started quivering the more he spoke. "His name's Lockdown. We clashed during the war. And I hate him!"

Somewhere, in a darkened ship, Optimus was restrained on a table by cables. His jetpack has been taken away, along with his axe. "It would be a lot less painful on us both if you'd just keep still, Orion Pax" "That name has no meaning to me anymore" "It does to Sentinel Minor" Optimus gritted his teeth. "_Sentinel, I've changed my mind_" He thought '_I was just going to have you drawn and quartered when I found you. But now I'm going to have you drawn, quartered and cannon-blasted!_' "He turned back to Lockdown "My men will find you before you can even get off this planet!" "You're hopeful. That's something I haven't heard in a while" Optimus was confused. "And here I thought you Decepticons had a code of honor" Lockdown almost yelled "There's no honor in remaining affiliated with the losing side. Leaving it for the winning side, that's just good business"

"Then why not join me? I could use men." Lockdown shook his head "Then I'd be back on the losing side" Optimus growled and launched his grapplers, grabbing his axe and slicing through the cables. Before he could attack he was shut down. "Mmm, that axe is the first thing I've ever seen that could slice through those cables. I was right to take it away. But just to be on the safe side, I'll take those grapplers as well." He readied the generator on his hook hand "Hold still. This won't hurt a bit, at first."

**Downtown Detroit**

The Autobots regrouped. "We've been searching for megacycles" Goldbug whined. "We're never gonna find him" "That's because Lockdown was hiding in plain sight" Ratchet remembered. Prowl activated his holo projector, showing a image of Old Detroit where Lockdown and Optimus disappeared. It was replaced by a map of the same area three days ago. "Hey! That warehouse wasn't there before" Bulkhead pointed out. The pieces fit together. The warehouse must have been a holographic projection, masking Lockdown's ship, the _Death's Head_. "Come on! Let's crush his processor!" Bulkhead cried as they transformed.

On the ship Lockdown was conversing with Sentinel's messengers, Getaway and Windcharger. "You have Optimus Prime? Hand him over now, Decepticon!" Getaway screeched. "Just remember, this deal isn't fully trustable. Which means you keep your end of the bargain first" Getaway slinked away, leaving only Windcharger. "Patience, bounty hunter. You will not be disappointed with your upgrades, provided we are not disappointed with your results"

Prowl, Bulkhead and Goldbug transformed outside the warehouse. Bulkhead was ready to charge in when Prowl stopped him. "Proceed with extreme caution if you wish to live, bruiser" Bulkhead knocked him aside. "Just 'cause Prime's not around to zap you doesn't mean you can push the rest of us around!" Prowl vowed to prove him wrong. He'd have to prove it fast, because autoguns came online and started blasting. Prowl leapt up, sliced one of the guns off and destroyed the rest with it.

Bulkhead crashed through the wall, only to find an empty room. "Come out so we can play rough" Bulkhead swung his wrecking ball at a steel beam. Lockdown leapt down from the ceiling and fired some sort of glop, which engulfed Bulkhead entirely. "That stuff can't hurt me!" "Don't wanna hurt you" Lockdown walked away, leaving Bulkhead looking like a puffy, oversized toaster. As he was heading towards the other two he was tackled by Ratchet.

"You!" "Yes" "I guess I'll have to bring you all in as well, so you don't create more needless suffering" Ratchet growled as Lockdown twisted his own words, and blasted him with his magnets, sending Lockdown flying. He then wandered over to the warehouse. "Think. It's a ship. There's an airlock, not a door" He ripped off the covering and opened the door, Prowl following stealthily behind him. Ratchet wandered down the tunnel until he got to the main room. "About time you did something useful, Ratchet" Optimus griped. "_Not even a thank you. And they call me rude_" Ratchet thought, releasing Optimus from his bonds. Optimus rubbed the areas where his grapplers had been taken out. Then the ship started to rumble. "Launch sequence starting. We gotta move!" Lockdown came through the door and knocked Ratchet back. "Nobody's going anywhere." He went over to Ratchet. "I might as well take care of you now." He said, raising Prime's axe up high. Optimus snuck up behind a trophy case and pushed it onto Lockdown, trapping him.

Ratchet wordlessly yanked the grapplers and EMP generator out of Lockdown's arms, causing him to scream. "E-EMP" He uttered…

**Cybertron (Flashback)**

Lockdown struggled in his bonds until he broke them off. "Huh?" Ratchet turned around and activated his EMP Generator, but was tackled by Lockdown. "You've twisted your last ember, sicko" Ratchet set the generator to full blast, intending to take Lockdown offline for good. Arcee heard the commotion and came at Lockdown, who punched Ratchet's arm away, blasting Arcee with the EMP blast. "No!" Ratchet yelled. Lockdown kicked the EMP Generator off, grabbed it and made a break for it.

Ratchet cradled Arcee, knowing what had happened. "You alright, Arcee?" She responded with what were probably her last sane words "Who's… Ar… cee? Where are we? What's going on? Do… I know you?"

**Present day**

Ratchet stomped over, attaching his EMP generator at full power. "Words can't describe how much I hate you, Lockdown. But my EMP generator can" Lockdown gasped as he was blasted. Ratchet then got his claws out, grabbed Lockdown's head and activated his magnets. The memory-wiped Lockdown screamed in pain as his head was being ripped apart. Ratchet yanked and Lockdown's head shattered, leaving nothing but a lifeless body. Then Ratchet blasted the control panel, sending the ship plummeting downwards towards the river. After tying the gear to Optimus they jumped out before the ship crashed.

**Autobot HQ**

Ratchet dropped Optimus off outside HQ. He'd probably be able to fix himself when he came to. He looked down at his Autobot insignia. "Damn this war to the smelting pool" He uttered. He tore off the insignia and tore it into shreds. Now that he had had his revenge, he saw no point in being part of a conflict he hated. As he drove away he remembered what he could…

When he got back, Ratchet was dismissed from the Autobots. He never saw Arcee again, but he heard stories about how she had been turned into a berserker. How she slaughtered millions of Decepticons before being killed in the final battle. His chance for love gone, for good.

He bumped into Goldbug, unexpectedly. "Where're you going, Doc-bot?" "Away from HQ and from this war. Tell Prime, I don't care." "Um… did you see Prowl?" Goldbug asked, trying to change the subject. "No, and I don't care." Goldbug sighed and began to drive off when Ratchet called him "Oh, kid. About Circuit Breaker… If you really feel the way you might feel about her, protect her with all you've got" Goldbug was touched. He drove off, wishing Ratchet luck.

At the bottom of the river, Prowl crawled out of the wreckage, screaming as his shackles shocked him…


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

That late afternoon, four days after Lockdown's death, Ratchet's desertion and Prowl's disappearance, Optimus, Goldbug and Circuit Breaker were assembled outside an amusement park called Dino-Drive. Since the events of last night, Optimus was now just a barely-contained ball of anger. CB and Goldbug had decided to help him unwind by patrolling for possible reinforcements. "I admit I don't know much about Earth history." He replied. "Well then, this is the place to start"

Suddenly they heard crunching and crashing behind them. Bulkhead ploughed through and rolled over anything in his path, leaving blaring car alarms behind him. "Sorry I'm late. Did I miss anything?" "No. I'd say you hit just about every car in the lot" Bulkhead sighed. "Good" The gates opened and the group entered Dino-Drive. Optimus observed, not what seemed to be a poor physical representation of an environment, but the creatures inhabiting them. All the other Earth creatures he'd seen weren't nearly as big or threatening as these. They stopped and transformed in front of a tour guide. "As you'll see, many of the animals replicated here date back as far as 68 million years ago." Goldbug scoffed. "We've been here for over 10 _billion_ years" The tour-bot didn't seem to notice Goldbug's remark and continued. "Much has been learned about dinosaurs from the bones – especially those found in ancient tar pits" The bot showed a short cartoon of a dinosaur drowning in a tar pit for emphasis.

"Many scholars speculate that in spite of their massive size, dinosaurs were capable of moving with tremendous speed and grace" '_More than some Autobots anyway_' Goldbug thought, glancing at Bulkhead. "But they were not known for their intellect." The bot continued. "A dinosaur would be no mental match for an XL-4 processor such as mine" Bulkhead wandered over to a tree where a mechanical _pteranodon_ was perched. "Ooh, can this one fly?" Bulkhead shook the tree, trying to make the creature fly. Instead it fell off onto a _triceratops_, which got its head knocked off onto a _tyrannosaurus_, which fell onto the tour-bot, crushing it. Its head bounced off, garbling as it went. "No match for an XL-4 processor… No match for an XL-4 processor… No match for an XL-4 processor…"

Bulkhead would have grinned if not for the stern look CB gave him "Not anymore it can't" She said, in response to Bulkhead's earlier question. "Good work, Bulkhead" Optimus said, surprising everyone. "You don't expect me to believe you planned that, boss?" "No, I expect you to do your job. Which is now to load up this salvage for repairs" "What for, Boss?" Goldbug asked Optimus smirked "It's a surprise". The Autobots loaded up the wrecked robots and drove out of the park. A satellite dish poked out from underneath the wreckage to observe the Autobots, unaware that it was being watched by another satellite dish…

**Decepticon HQ**

"I've got something from Wasp" Masterson reported. "Patch it through" Starscream ordered. "Jet-bot, Autobots taking salvage to base from amusement park Dino Drive" Masterson recognised the name "What does this salvage look like?" "Odd organic creatures" "Dinosaurs" Masterson muttered. "What are these 'dinosaurs' you speak of?" "They were giant lizards that lived on Earth millions of years ago. We build models and mechanical replicas of them to preserve our history." The conversation was cut short by Starscream's comlink beeping. "_I am Wreck-Gar. I found the AllSpark fragment_" "Good work, Wreck-Gar. Make sure you and the fragment get back safely" "_You got it_" Starscream tried to call Wasp back. "Wasp? Wasp, are you there?" All he heard on his comlink was scuffling, blasting and smashing. "Blitzwing, go help Wasp"

**Autobot HQ**

The repaired dinosaurs stood grim and proud as the repair work had been finished. "What's the surprise? Are we opening our own exhibition?" Bulkhead asked. Optimus had no patience for face palming and just gave him an odd answer "You'll see. Tell the others to get ready to smash things" "Yes, sir" Bulkhead saluted with glee. Once Bulkhead had left, Optimus turned to the dinosaurs. "Sentinel doesn't know it yet, but you three will be the prototypes for my future army of attack drones!"

**Streets of Detroit**

Wasp was dragging his captive down the road, who would not stop complaining. "Go, ahead. Laugh. You know you want to. Everyone else does." Wasp drew his stinger and shot to shut him up, but even that didn't work. "Wasp not care about Autobots anymore. Even if wasp was once one himself" "At least you got yourself a good identity. No one will even take credit for thinking of me. To them, I'm just the worst spy in the history of Autobots" "Then why stay with Autobots?" "Because I'd get the same treatment from them as I would from Sentinel. Don't think of bribing me over. My life sucks enough as it is"

Wasp almost crashed into Wreck-Gar as he came out of the alley. "Hello. I have the AllSpark fragment." Wasp was about to greet him when several lights shined on them. "Good work. Now, if you'd just hand that over" Came a slimy voice – Sarge-bot. "Oh, okay." Wreck-Gar replied, but Wasp transformed and pulled him back. "Heroes don't give up!" "Oh, right. I am Wreck-Gar. I'm a hero. Try to keep that in check, will you?" Sentinel turned to Warpath. "I've heard enough. Crush him" Warpath stomped forward menacing the Decepticons. Wreck-Gar, Wasp and Getaway braced themselves for the inevitable, when suddenly…

ROAR!!!

Every stopped and looked around in fear. "W-what was that?" Getaway asked. No one had an answer.

SHRIEK!!!

"What are you waiting for? Spread out!" Warpath and Getaway heading out, but Wasp shot Getaway in the back, taking him out. "Blaster, do something!" "**My powers don't work on less-than-serviceable trash bots such as these**" He replied, pointing to the two Decepticons. The ground began to shake, as, out of the darkness, appeared the dinosaurs. "I don't – ZEEM! – believe it!" Warpath cried as the triceratops knocked him into a building, crushing his cannon in the process. "**But these should be no problem**" Blaster said, transforming into his armoured truck form. He sent out a kind of sonic scream, crippling the t-rex, who then began to breathe fire at the triceratops. "No one said the organics of this planet could do that!" Sentinel said, amazed.

Another blast of fire came from the air, knocking Blaster on his side. Sentinel ducked as the pteranodon barely impaled its beak on him. "**No one said they could fly either**" Sentinel shot at it with his laser. When he had regrouped with his crew, he had replaced his missing arm with an arm ending in his laser sword, and attached a laser similar to Starscream's null ray on his other arm.

Wasp shot his stingers at the pteranodon without success. He was knocked off his feet by a wrecking-ball. Sentinel turned. "You're one of Orion's bunch" "Yes, he is, Sentinel" Optimus said, landing and blocking Sentinel's sword. "Do you like my new surprise? I call them, the Dinobots" "Anything of yours will be erased from history, Orion, even with those monsters!" The pteranodon was about to attack when it was blasted away by an incoming jet and crashed into the pavement. "_Honey, I'm home!_" Wasp sighed with relief, it was Blitzwing.

His joy was suppressed when Warpath pulled himself free and grabbed Wreck-Gar. "Alright – BOOM! – No more games – POW! Gimme the fragment or this junk pile goes to the scrapheap – SLAM!" Blitzwing transformed to tank mode and landed in front of him. He was bout to fire when the t-rex knocked him forward into Warpath.

Wreck-Gar and the AllSpark fragment were knocked onto the ground. When the fragment landed, it sent a pulse of energy, zapping the Dinobots, causing them to collapse. Blaster transformed and cried in pain, his eyes white with energy overload. "**I can't control them anymore!**" Optimus cannon-blasted Sentinel, transformed and rolled out along with Bulkhead. Blitzwing grabbed Wasp, Wreck-Gar, the fragment and Getaway and lifted off.

This left Sentinel, his two damaged troops and the inactive Dinobots. "Bring them back to base and have Blurr check over them"

**Detroit Garbage plant**

The garbage plant had been abandoned once Sentinel's group had moved in and scared the workers away. After clearing some of the filth out, they had reconfigured the equipment for their own use. On one of the floating barges were the Dinobots, being inspected by Blurr and Sentinel Minor. "The primitive materials available on this planet are useless." Blurr summarised. "It will take countless stellar cycles to create attack drones capable of our needs" Sentinel shook his head. "Just get them up and running again. Otherwise our prospects will be even more grim, locked in this prison of a base"

Suddenly, the Autobots heard rumbling from one of them. "Grim - lock… Grim - lock " Scoop fainted again. Blaster contemplated the events that had happened earlier "**What did that fragment do?**". Then the other two Dinobots activated again. "Could it have given them… sparks?" Jazz wondered. Scoop squeaked "No way! Then they'd be even more dangerous than before" The Dinobots roared. "Me Grimlock!" "Me Snarl!" "Me Swoop!"

The Autobots readied their weapons, but Sentinel held out his hand. "That so? Then listen up, Grimlock. I'm Sentinel Minor, your leader, but you and those other lynchpins will address me as 'Sir'. Is that clear?" Grimlock did not take this sitting down, however. "Me Grimlock leader!" Snarl and Swoop rallied to him, making Sentinel even angrier. "Obey me!" The Dinobots growled, then unexpectedly, began to transform…

Soon all three of them were standing above even Warpath in robot mode. "What the - ?" Crosshairs wondered. "Whoa!" Powerglide awed. Blaster pondered "**Uh… they couldn't do that before, right?**" The standoff was broken by Scoop running and screaming. The Dinobots drew their weapons and began the pursuit. But they had to pass through the other Autobots.

Jetstorm flew up. "Beak-face! Smile for wind cannon!" He called, blasting Swoop. Swoop transformed to pteranodon mode and blew his fire breath at Jetstorm, who intensified the winds. "Jetstorm, stand down! You'll burn us online!" "At least we take freak bots with us!" Sentinel yelled. "Enough!" No one seemed to listen "I will have order! I will have perfection! I will have - !" His speech was cut off by a tornado of fire engulfing the inside of the plant.

Outside parked Goldbug and Circuit Breaker. "Should we help them?" "Prime wouldn't relay like that" "Prime's not here" "Good point" They wandered inside to see a charred control room. They could barely make out the shapes of the disabled Autobots and Dinobots. "Hey, it's the Dinobots" CB said, racing over to them. "Sari, wait!" CB stopped. Did he call her by her old name? Goldbug froze in a moment of stupidity. Why did he call her that? "_Was Ratchet right?_" "Why'd you say Sari, Goldbug?" "I – I'm sorry. I was just a bit freaked out by all the bodies" CB shrugged it off and went over to Snarl. She got out her key and plugged it in him, rejuvenating him. The pudgy Dinobot stumbled to his feet uneasily. "Snarl need good long bath" CB giggled at his innocence.

She then activated Swoop. "You help me?" Swoop grabbed CB in with his wings. "Me Swoop love new friend!" "Uh, excuse me, but could you please let go? You're crushing me" Swoop complied. "At least they're obedient" Then she remembered Grimlock. She cautiously reactivated him. "Where stupid chin robot? Me Grimlock hungry" "Calm down, Grimlock." "Me Grimlock calm as eve…" He couldn't continue before he slipped into near unconsciousness. CB turned to the other two Dinobots. "Could you two please help me get your friend back to our base?" "Yes, small human"

Snarl carried Grimlock on his back While Goldbug held his head up and Swoop carried his tail. "Optimus is gonna be happy to see you guys" Goldbug said. He activated his radio, finding an old program to emphasise his point. "_Excellent work_" "_Aw, go on!_" "_No, really. On a scale of one to ten, you are an eleven_" "_You're too kind! I'm embarrassed. I'm blushing_"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Decepticon HQ**

The Decepticons were all assembled around the five bodies that had taken the form of harrier jets. "Wreck-Gar, the AllSpark fragment" Wreck-Gar handed over the fragment he had saved from the Dinobots. The one that brought him to life was being used to power the makeshift space bridge. Starscream took the fragment and turned to the others, including Masterson. "I wish we wouldn't have to create life just for destroying other life. But as leader, my duty lies with you, with the people of Earth…" He turned to the jets "… And with them"

He then began what sounded like a prayer. "Oh, glorious Megatron, give these machines personalities worthy of he who created you." He broke two pieces of the fragment and put them into the cockpits of the first two "Let them think for themselves, to grow in knowledge and wisdom" He placed two more pieces into the next two "And always let them value freedom and life, wherever they find it" Starscream placed the last one into the last fighter and stood back as they began to whir to life.

The jets shifted and merged parts until they stood in the spitting image of Starscream himself. "Welcome to the land of the online, fellow Decepticons" Starscream greeted. The first one to speak up was the purple and black one "I'm glad to be so, for I vow stand against any threat that rears its ugly head!" The dark blue one spoke up next "I'm not sure I would be able to do as much as you. But protecting life is in my programming, and I will follow" Then the yellow and orange one "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go kick some!"

"Finally, someone who means to take action!" Lugnut said "A great improvement over the original Starscream" He continued, mistakenly pointing at the cream and dark red jet. "What are you talking about? I am but a clone. He's the original Starscream" Masterson saw Starscream look pained. "What's wrong, it worked, didn't it?" "Actually, Mr Masterson, cloning technology is still unrefined and possibly unreliable" The yellow and orange jet took notice. "So you're saying we're useless junk?" "Never! I was just saying-" "You were saying what all commanders seem to say about their troops!" He was held back by the turquoise and purple jet, which seemed to be… female?

"Please throttle back, brother. It's barely been five cycles and you're not listening" Starscream was curious about this one. "Is this one of the side effects of cloning?" Masterson asked. "Actually, certain personality traits may manifest itself in certain forms" The female answered. "For example, I exhibit my creator's compassion for life" She pointed to the others "He represents bravery. He represents humility. He represents recklessness. He represents truthfulness" "Yes, I do" The last one replied.

"If we call you by those traits it'd be quite a mouthful" "Oh, that's right. We haven't introduced ourselves yet." The jets lined up "I'm Skywarp" "Call me Thundercracker" "The name is Sunstorm" "I am Ramjet" "And I'm Slipstream" The other introduced themselves as well. "I am Wreck-Gar. I'm a hero" "Wasp glad to see other bots" "I'm called Blackarachnia" "I, Lugnut will be eager to see you in action" Blitzwing switched faces "**The name is Blitzwing. Remember it, 'cause it's the last thing you're going to here before I**… _Express my feelings in song_" However, before he could indulge them, the alarm went off. "_We're coming to you live from the center of Detroit where, from what we can tell, the Autobots seem to be running amuck. As seen here, several vehicles and buildings have shown damage by a wrecking ball._" Starscream turned. "Lugnut, Blitzwing, Seekers, we must go and assess the damage"

**Detroit - Center**

Sentinel raced down the street, flanked by Side Burn and Crosshairs and flying overhead were the twins and Powerglide. "We've wasted enough time with Orion Pax. Kill him and capture the other Autobots" "Don't worry, sir. I'll back you up" Crosshairs replied. "_Sure_ you will" Side Burn scoffed. Even before he joined up, crosshairs had a habit of slacking off and never carrying through with his promises.

They arrived to find chaos in the center of the city, and Optimus giving a proclamation. "It is time for the Autobots to enjoy our divine providence! It is time we imposed this providence by acts of justice upon the traitors, the fools and the weak! Autobots, make terror the order of the day!" Sentinel ploughed through Goldbug and transformed. The jet transformed and landed beside him and the others. "Belay that order, Autobots! Orion, this is your last chance. Stand down now or be scrapped" Optimus laughed humourlessly "Still gnawing away at the bone, Sentinel?" "You can't ignore us forever." "I never did ignore you, or else I wouldn't have sent those drones to attack you" "Wait, that was you?!" Optimus dryly laughed again. "Ironic, isn't it? Ultra Magnus sent the AllSpark into space to prevent civil war. But now, even without it, that's exactly what's happening!"

Sentinel drew his sword. "This civil war will die along with you! With me, troops!" Optimus did not waver. "Dinobots, dinnertime!" Swoop swooped down, knocking the Autobots to the ground. The ground began the shudder as Grimlock and Snarl smashed their way towards them. "Game over, man! Game over!" Side Burn shrieked, retreating. "Puny robots run! Dinobots rule!" Grimlock roared. "I'm not afraid of you, you brainless primitive" Grimlock transformed, drew his flaming sword and smacked Sentinel away. "Brains? Grimlock know how to bash brains. Maybe bash yours."

**Detroit - Downtown**

The fliers landed in a clearing, observing the damage done by Bulkhead. "How can Cybertronians possibly do such a thing to helpless humans?" Thundercracker wondered. "Because humans are weak-willed and without a fighting spirit!" Lugnut proclaimed. "Enough, Lugnut. We're supposed to help humans, not kick them while they're down" Slipstream said, smacking Lugnut in the optic. Suddenly, they turned to find assault tanks, like the one Blitzwing scanned, approaching them.

"Look! More giant robots!" A SWAT soldier alerted "Get them!" The tanks started opening fire. "What the-?" Skywarp wondered. "They must think we did all this!" Ramjet said. "Brilliant observation, Ramjet" Sunstorm said sarcastically. "Let's prove them wrong!" Starscream held him back. "Hold it! They're on our side!" "Really!" "Yes, they're just confused" Blitzwing replied.

"Please, hold your fire!" Starscream pleaded. "We've never attacked this city before. Why should we now?" "Why don't you ask your Autobot buddies? That's what they did! Now leave!" "And we're sworn to protect these bird-brains?" Sunstorm grumbled. Ramjet got a warning on his sensors. "We got trouble. Incoming Autobots, moving fast. Two cars, three jets, one… dinosaur?"

Side Burn sped up to the Decepticons "Clear outta here!" He transformed and landed in front of the tanks. "That means you too, humans" Side burn aimed his gun, which was blasted out by Slipstream. "Don't hurt them! They're innocent!" "Do you think I care about that, babe?" Slipstream grabbed Side Burn and lifted him off the ground. "Don't call me babe. Let's see how you like eating your own dust!" She threw Side Burn away and took off into the air.

"Come, Blitzwing! The puny flying Autobots are helpless rookies!" "Not being so helpless" Jetstorm rebuked, sending a burst of wind at Blitzwing. "And not being so puny either" Jetfire added, flaming one of Lugnut's engines. Skywarp dodged Crosshairs rather lazy pot shots. "Come on! Let's annihilate these clowns!" "Yeah, since the others obviously can't handle them!" The seekers transformed and took off. Ramjet head butted Jetstorm, sending him flying away in his own tornado. Crosshairs transformed and tried to get the injured Lugnut, but Slipstream halted him with her lasers, leaving him to be head butted by Ramjet. Side Burn struggled up and took aim, but was blown away by Skywarp.

Swoop couldn't find a still target to bomb, and he was being pursued by Sunstorm. "So you wanna play chicken, huh?" Swoop transformed and grabbed on. "Play? Me Swoop love to play with new friend!" Swoop began smashing and clawing at Sunstorm's exterior. "Thundercracker, help me!" "I'm coming" Thundercracker shot at Swoop, encasing him in a bubble of silence, which stopped his squawking. "He's still on me! Get him off!" Thundercracker felt something come over him "I – I can't! I'm don't know!" Skywarp swooped in "Hang on, Sunstorm!" Swoop was blasted in the back and sent flying to the ground. He found Optimus standing over him "Me Swoop sorry, Boss-bot. New flying-bots attack" "More Decepticons? Get up, you featherless freak. We'll talk back at base" They transformed and retreated.

When the Seekers landed Sunstorm stormed up to Thundercracker. "What's your problem?" "I don't know. I didn't feel I could help you" Starscream looked worried. "What are you, a coward?" "Don't take it so hard, either of you. We beat the Autobots off" "You beat no one!" Lugnut growled, nursing his burnt arm. "They were called off." "You're just sore about your arm" Lugnut would have activated his explosive punch if he could. "That's enough. We've got to get back to base. There's nothing more we can do here."

When the others took off, Thundercracker stayed down to help Lugnut with Starscream and Blitzwing. "Thundercracker, I think I know what's wrong." "What is it?" "Along with my humility, you seem to have unfortunately picked up my old inferiority complex" "Can't it be fixed?" "I don't think so, but I am more that just soldier." "Don't you mean a warrior?" "No. Warriors attack and conquer. They prey on the weak. Soldiers defend and protect the innocent – mostly from warriors" "I'm not sure I understand. And I don't think Sunstorm would be happy to hear the difference." "You'll understand in time. Many called Megatron a great warrior, but…" Starscream couldn't continue. He couldn't stop remembering his beloved Megatron. Lugnut interrupted them "Would you two would stop pontificating and pick up the pace? My fist is still melting"

**Autobot HQ**

"Optimus, sir, are you sure it was necessary for the humans to be involved in the battle" "They entered under their own conditions. We're not responsible for anything that happens to them – except, of course, their imminent enslavement" Goldbug walked away, ending the short conversation. '_Yes we are. We found the AllSpark. We drew the Decepticons here_'

He turned and looked at Circuit Breaker, sleeping peacefully in her room. He had noticed her beauty. It might not have occurred if they hadn't brought the AllSpark here. But then, she might have had a better fate. There are so many things worse than death. He had taught Wasp that, and now it seems he was teaching himself that. As he thought of Circuit Breaker he couldn't help but come back to one point…

'_We fired the first shot_'

**Author's notes**

Well, here we go: the Starscream clones, or Seekers.

I forgot to mention, there's a bit of Megatron x Starscream in this fic as well as Sari x Bee.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Optimus observed as Goldbug welded the last limb of the two new Dinobots on. He was so impressed with the Dinobots; he had decided to add two more to their ranks. Of course, Grimlock had full command of them, but the Dinobot were ultimately loyal to him.

"Circuit Breaker, the key" Optimus commanded. CB walked forward, holding the glowing amber key. It shot out a beam of energy which engulfed the shells. Then the light faded and the red optics flashed to life. The stegosaurus' first words were an unintelligible snarl. Grimlock looked on. "This one called Irontail" He proclaimed. "The two Dinobots deserve names worthy of their intelligence levels" The brontosaurus looked around. "Uh, what is Dinobot?" "It's what you are, _Sludge_" Goldbug snickered. CB looked wary. Bulkhead looked dull, as always. Unknown to them, a small pocket-bot was watching them.

**Abandoned lab**

The key appeared on the monitor, being watched by the head of Megatron. "A powerful tool" Megatron pondered. "Wielded so naively and carelessly by a protoform" He then glanced over some schematics. "I would put that key to better use" He controlled the claws and consoles to put the finishing touches on a medium-sized robot, which he sent up through the ceiling.

Then he phoned the Detroit Post office. "Detroit Post Office, how may we be of service?" Megatron modulated his voice to sound like an ordinary human. "This is Sumdac Systems. I require you to transport a package from the laboratory to Sumdac Tower. You'll find it at the entrance, along with your payment" "We'll be there right away, sir"

**Downtown Detroit**

"Like my work, guys?" Bulkhead asked as he, Goldbug and Circuit Breaker toured the ruins of downtown Detroit. "Bulkhead, I know you have an obsession with destruction, but we humans have a different idea about art" CB replied from inside Goldbug. "That's not what I've seen in images about your battles and your great leaders" "Back then the whole world was at war. Now conflict has slowed down to a trickle" Bulkhead spluttered, simulating spitting. "Sounds stupid" "I don't know, Bulkhead." Goldbug spoke up "I think she might have the right idea."

Before Goldbug could continue CB's cell phone rang. "Miss Circuit Breaker, this is the Detroit Post Office. Your package has arrived at Sumdac Systems for pickup. Have a nice day" "I didn't order any packages" CB wondered. "So, let's keep moving" Goldbug swerved right in front of Bulkhead. "Wait, Bulkhead! Think! Uh, what's the human phrase I'm looking for?" CB piped up "Never look a gift horse in the mouth?" Goldbug honked his horn in confirmation "Yeah, that's it. So, let's check it out" Goldbug sped off with Bulkhead trailing behind. "I wouldn't look _any_ organic in the mouth."

**Sumdac Tower**

Sumdac Tower had had few visitors since the war ended, but it was still regarded as an important building. It was now the main source of media since the Detroit Powell Press had gone down with its boss. Goldbug and Bulkhead parked outside. CB got out finding a large blue and gold box which read "To: Sari Sumdac. From: A friend"

CB cringed at her old name. "I wish people would stop calling me that" She said, walking towards the box. She pressed a button on the front, and the box opened up to reveal a white, purple, black and turquoise robot. It was a bipedal robot half the size of a police drone, with a yellow visor, a faceplate and keyboards on its arms. CB pressed a button on its chest.

The robot activated. "I am Soundwave" It spoke in a monotone voice. An antenna popped out of its head, becoming a mini disco ball. It began blaring out a small tune and doing a dance. "This is awesome!" CB cried. "Whoever got this, I swear I'll repay them." She led Soundwave with her to the others. "Unless, of course, I can't find them or if I forget. What do you guys think?"

Bulkhead remained stern and silent, but Goldbug spoke up "I think it'll be nice to have some new tunes to replace Jazz." "Prime's not going to happy." Bulkhead finally said "He's going to think you're going soft, slacking off with that toy" CB drew one of her energy blades, walked up and slowly carved a circle out of Bulkhead's finger. Bulkhead yelled in pain. "It's been almost a whole cycle since we got Soundwave. Have I gone soft yet?" "No." CB smiled "Good" She drew out her key and healed Bulkhead's wound. The group rolled back to base.

**Autobot HQ**

Since Soundwave arrived at Autobot HQ, the others had barely gotten a moments peace, especially the Dinobots. Although Prime could calm them down, they caused quite a ruckus in their pen. CB was oblivious to this, of course. She was just enjoying the music and dancing. She yawned, looking at Soundwave. "If only there was some way to make you even cooler."

She grabbed her key, walked over, inserted the key into Soundwave's control panel, and got blasted back by a new burst of sound. "I am Soundwave" It affirmed, sparking and revealing a new pair of speakers on its shoulders. "Circuit Breaker!" CB heard the call, turned Soundwave off and saluted Optimus as he came in. "Yes, sir?" "Either shut that thing down or I'll shut it down myself!"

**Abandoned lab**

Megatron watched through the pocket-bot. "_What are you grinding your gears about, sir? It's just a toy_" CB replied to Optimus. "Oh, but he is so much more, Sari Sumdac" Megatron spoke, as if he was addressing one of his own children. Well, in a sense he was - Soundwave. "After all, I made him just for you." In ordinary circumstances, he would have built Soundwave's complete form himself, but, in his immobilised state, he needed help for creating his new allies and workers.

Glancing over Soundwave's schematics, Megatron relayed his plan again to comfort himself "The more you use your key, the more Soundwave evolves. As the pieces of my plan fall into place so will the pieces of my new body"

**Autobot HQ**

"Okay, sir. I'll lay off Soundwave as long as you wish it" "See that you do" Optimus commanded, walking out of her quarters. Goldbug and Bulkhead were listening behind the corner. "I'm glad to see Optimus is as happy with Soundwave as we are" Goldbug said. "You're still playing the friend card, Goldbug?" Goldbug nearly drew his stingers "A toy isn't the same thing as a friend! She'll come around" Bulkhead whacked his own head. "Makes sense in the cogs" "Yeah, but it doesn't feel right in the old ember chamber"

Outside HQ a certain parked red car was plotting something. "Wasp lose all Wasps friends. Bumble-bot lose all Bumble-bots friends!"

The next morning, CB was fast asleep on her makeshift bed. Soundwave was watching her, like a guard dog. Then its eyes turned blue as it climbed up onto the bed and reached out for the key. It froze back into place as CB woke up. "How'd you get up here?" CB crawled over the Soundwave. She shrugged. "Mmm, who cares?" She pushed the switch on button, but nothing happened. She pushed it twice more, still nothing happened. "The key should power you up" She inserted the key, revealing yet another pair of speakers in addition to the ones Soundwave received yesterday. "I am Soundwave" It responded.

Then, the strangest thing happened. It sent out a strange signal, causing CB to cover her ears. A rumbling sound came through as the Dinobots were drawn to the sound, along with the pocket bot. Once they arrived, smashing a wall in the process, Soundwave ceased the tune. "That is…" "_… very unexpected_" Goldbug slipped through the rubble and past Snarl. "What's going on?" "Soundwave. I think I upgraded him or something -" There was a loud yell from the other side of the base "CIRCUIT BREAKER!" Goldbug and CB glanced at each other, then at the Dinobots. "Pin the blame on them?" CB nodded "Pin the blame on them" Goldbug transformed, dragged CB and Soundwave, followed by the pocket bot and drove out of the base, just as the Dinobots came to. "Why Dinobots in small organics' room?" Grimlock asked.

**Detroit**

Jazz and Blaster were currently on patrol. With Jazz's sound system and Blaster's ability to manipulate machinery, the two made quite a pair – an odd pair. "You couldn't have picked a better form, Blaster?" Jazz asked. "You make me look bad, driving so close" Blaster ignored him "**This vehicle mode boasts considerable defenses. I need them in order to compensate for my physical weakness**" Jazz got no reply. "**Not that you care anyway**" "Shush! You getting this?" Jazz transmitted the music "**Definitely. Where there's music, there are humans**" "Let's check it out. I could use a break."

At the nearby rock concert, Dancitron, CB was hiding out with Goldbug, allowing a special early opening to show off Soundwave to the people. So far, people were enjoying him and the light show. Both Autobots joined in the dancing, but got embarrassed whenever they brushed up against each other.

Outside the club, Jazz and Blaster transformed to robot mode. Jazz began to dig those groovy, funky beats, doing a dance. Blaster pondered the situation. "_**This frequency is not one I have ever heard before. It seems rather suspicious. I will try to access, and possibly manipulate the source of this sound**_"

If Blaster had paid attention to Jazz, he might not have used his power. At that time, Jazz was accessing songs recorded by rapper Vanilla Ice. These songs got mixed up in the signal Blaster sent out, right towards Soundwave.

Everyone was enjoying the concert until Soundwave began to spark, having picked up the frequency. I shook, slipped and fell flat on its face. CB noticed and tried to fix him up with her key. "I… am… Sound… wave…" It said, with a slight drawl CB hadn't heard before. "I guess he needs time to power down" She turned to the crowd. "Sorry, people. Party's over" The people groaned and left. Godlbug went up. "Hey, Circuit Breaker" "You can call me Sari, Goldbug" "I thought you didn't like being called that name" CB shrugged. "Well, you've used it before. Why break the habit of a lifetime?"

Goldbug and CB's hands moved closer until they finally touched. The two looked at their hands, then each other and smiled. Then they shook out of it. "We'd better get back. The Boss-bot probably getting tired of berating Grimlock" Goldbug transformed.

At the lab, Megatron watched Soundwave's progress, the two Autobots bonding, and the interference of Blaster. "The Autobot communicator has hacked into Soundwave and picked up the Decepticon frequency. I should try and warn Starscream and the others. Soundwave, respond" Nothing happened. "Soundwave?"

The club CB left the door open. "Come on, Soundwave" Soundwave responded, but not in the way she expected. "No. I will no longer take orders from you or any human" Both Autobots were shocked. Goldbug drew his stinger. "Yes you will, you little slagger!" He shot to miss Soundwave, who ran off, too fast for them to catch. "Great, now Prime's going to be really mad."

Outside after losing the signal, Jazz and Blaster disguised themselves from the humans. Sentinel had called them back to base. Jazz obeyed, but Blaster was still intrigued by the frequency he had picked up. After deciphering it he realised – it was a Decepticon frequency! He could use it to find other Decepticons, and earn himself much prestige from Ultra Magnus, maybe even replace that clown Sentinel.

**Detroit**

All around the city Soundwave wandered the streets, but no one really paid much attention to him, thinking him another mindless drone. That was what worried him. "This ain't cool. This definitely ain't cool. I mean, robots, we're just as capable as humans, but we're the ones cleaning up their garbage?"

"Curious" Megatron observed. "Soundwave appears to have evolved technical sophistication and Cybertronian durability I hadn't anticipated. But, perhaps this will be an asset now that he is self-aware, with a spark, thanks to those jolts from the key."

Soundwave wandered over to the TV monitors. He had heard of something called 'Westerns', and liked the sound of them. Instead of finding a western, however, he saw a Cybertronian face. "Like, whoa! Who are you, dude?" "I am Megatron, your creator, of sorts. I am a Decepticon." Soundwave was entranced.

A picture of the key appeared on the screen. "This key is the source of your strength, of your evolution into what you are now" Megatron continued. "It has been charged with the power of the AllSpark, the original source of our life. From what I have learned, the AllSpark is lost, but several fragments have been scattered over this planet"

"So, what am I supposed to do, dude?" "Time is of the essence. There are other Decepticons, but I must get to them without drawing the attention of the Autobots. Follow these coordinates" "Got it, Mega-dude" Soundwave grabbed onto a bus.

On the other side of town, Blaster was searching for any matches for the signal he found. He found it. He transformed and cornered the source. "**I suggest your put your engine in park**" "Wasp not do park! Here! Try reverse!" Wasp backed up, knocking Blaster aside. Blaster growled, transformed to his armoured truck mode and pursued.

**Abandoned lab**

As the bus passed the site of the old Sumdac Systems lab, Soundwave leapt off and landed on the ground. He ran to the door and took a lift to the work lab. "Gah! Are you Megatron?" He asked, on seeing Megatron's head. "Yes, I am. I need your help. I need to help rebuild my body so I can lead the Decepticons here and throughout the galaxy?" Soundwave scratched his head in confusion "Why don't you build a body like mine?" "Because I have a feeling my old body is still out there. But I need allies and AllSpark fragments"

"Fear not, Mega-dude. I'll be by your side, no matter what" Soundwave activated his signal, attracting several robots and pieces of metal to him, growing bigger and bigger. In a flash of light, Soundwave stood in his larger, more powerful body, complete with a Scion xB alternate mode. "I am Soundwave. I'm a Decepticon. I'm cool as ice!"

**Detroit forest**

Blaster dodged the various trees, trying to catch Wasp. He glimpsed him go into the side of a mountain. Blaster transformed and activated his tracking system. He weaved through the tunnels and found himself in a large empty room. "**Odd. Now there seems to be no trace of Decepticon energy signatures**" Suddenly, he was knocked back by a blast of fire, a stinger blast and a laser blast. "**Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for your energy signature**" Blaster looked up to see Wasp, Ramjet holding a plasma dynamic thruster, and Blitzwing holding Getaway. "Blaster, thank goodness you came. I was beginning to feel forgotten"

"Do not fire, Autobot" Ramjet pleaded. "We have a hostage" Blaster held out his hand, took control of Ramjet's arm and used the cannon to blow Getaway's head off, knocking Blitzwing to the ground. "**Do you now?**" Blaster punched Ramjet in the jaw and grabbed the thruster. "**Once I report this to Ultra Magnus and lead him here, I will command the Elite Guard!**"

As he began to tamper with the thruster, Ramjet spoke up. "Wait, that thruster is unstable and without set coordinates" Blaster kicked him "**Shut up! I'm not stupid**" But the thruster sparked and engulfed Blaster in a quick flash of light. Blitzwing grabbed the thruster just before the ball transwarped away. '_Blitzwing, what's going on?_' Starscream asked over the comlink. "Starscream, I think we'll need to speed up work on those signal dampeners"

**Space**

On the moon, near the wrecked _Nemesis_, a ball of light appeared and flickered out, sending Blaster plummeting to the ground. "**I'm stupid! I'm stupid!**" He cried, pouting, taking in his surroundings. "I'm stranded on this stupid lump of rock" He trudged around the moon. "I'll never be able to contact Cybertron from here" He kicked the surface, hitting something hard. Looking down, he brushed away the dust to find something that brought a smile to his faceplate – The AllSpark!

**Author's notes**

Here's Soundwave! Also appearing are the AllSpark and the relationship between Goldbug and Sari. After looking at the polls, I'm going to bring back Meltdown, and, at some point, Prowl. Ratchet, I'm not sure, maybe near the end.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Things were normal as ever at Autobot HQ, but less noisy now that Soundwave was gone. That night, the Dinobots were fast asleep inside their pens when –

'_Come all primitives_' a voice sounded in their audio receptors. Grimlock woke with a start. "Who calling Grimlock?" '_Come all primitives_' the voice sounded again, waking the other Dinobots. "Somebody calling Irontail too." The stegosaurus replied. "Someone from inside us?" Swoop wondered. Grimlock decided stomped down hard. "Dinobots must answer call – even though not know who calls or where from" The Dinobots activated their flame breaths, melting their cages, and crashed through the wall and towards the mysterious signal.

At Decepticon HQ, Blackarachnia received the same signal. '_Come all primitives_'

**Autobot HQ**

The four Autobots stood in front of the gaping hole left by the Dinobots. Goldbug, Bulkhead and Circuit Breaker looked ready to receive their punishment from Optimus. But they didn't receive it, yet. "What are you standing there for? Find them!"

**Decepticon HQ**

Wasp woke up and paced out of his quarters. As he went into the central entrance room he glanced at the grave they had made for Getaway. Even though he was an Autobot, Getaway had been pitied enough to be given a proper burial. Normally, a fallen Decepticon would be burnt with great honor. Wasp didn't want that fate – he wanted to destroy Bumble-bot and settle down peacefully.

"Morning, Spider-Bot" He said, walking past Blackarachnia's quarters. When no reply came, Wasp did a double take and peeked inside to find the room empty. Blackarachnia was gone!

"Fascinating" Blitzwing murmured. He was typing at a console, with Lugnut right next to him. "You're standing right in front of me, yet I cannot pick up your energy signature." "Now we can move freely in any mode we wish, and none shall be the wiser" Lugnut replied. "You're not going to cause any trouble with this fact, Lugnut" Slipstream scolded. "You're just as presumptuous as you template, clone" Lugnut growled. Slipstream looked away unhappily "With good reason" She muttered. "Impressive work, Mr Masterson" Blitzwing complimented. "Well, I just did the finishing touches. It's Blackarachnia you should thank"

Just then, Wasp came running in. "Spider-Bot gone!" "Where, Wasp?" "Wasp don't know! She just gone!" Lugnut grunted and stomped forward. "Come, insect." He said, picking up Wasp and slinging him over his shoulder. "If we must retrieve Blackarachnia, so be it" Slipstream looked worriedly to Blitzwing "Sometimes I worry about Lugnut" Blitzwing nodded, sharing her sentiments "He's never been very stable, even when he was a protoform"

**Lake Erie - North Sister Island**

The Autobots had landed on the Island where they had first battled the Decepticons. "Either the Dinobots are losing their minds – like they had any to lose in the first place – or someone got enough chrome bearings to think they can control them" Goldbug theorised. Bulkhead slammed his fists together. "Good for me. I always wanted to teach those brutes a lesson for doing my job better than me" CB held them up and bent down to look at the sand. "Tracks?" Goldbug asked "Not the Dinobots. Someone else is here" CB said. There were two rows of dots in the sand, rather big dots.

**Lab**

Unknown to them, they were being observed by a human whose very voice could make a woman's heart melt. "Our visitors seem lost. Perhaps we should give them a hand" The man spoke, and then turned back to the monitor. Goldbug and CB were using their stingers and hand blasters to clear away any foliage to find any sign of the Dinobots. Bulkhead was smashing his foot on the ground to topple the trees en masse.

Behind him was Blackarachnia, strapped down to a table, watching the monitor. "Not exactly the rescue I was hoping for, but I'll take my chances" She muttered. A small, frail human turned to the man. "Say the word and I'll pound them into scrap metal, boss" "Not yet, Colossus Rhodes. Otherwise all my plans will waste away" "Let them, because there's no way I'm helping you after all this" Blackarachnia snapped.

The frail human turned to Blackarachnia and growled. She growled back. He growled back slightly louder. She hissed like a bug. The electrodes on Rhode's back activated, shifting him into a large, muscle-bound human, who roared. Blackarachnia knew she was beat "Okay, you win"

**Forest**

Meanwhile, the three Autobots were continuing their jaunt in the woods. "Careful" CB warned. "Quicksand" "I see it." Bulkhead grumbled "You'd have to be a real glitch head to get caught in that" Then they heard a roar overhead, as Lugnut shook off Wasp, who fell into the quicksand, struggling for help. "Oh no, Wasp!" Godlbug cried. Bulkhead activated his wrecking ball and tossed it at the pit. It missed Wasp and got caught in the trees behind it. Wasp grabbed on, leapt out and activated his stingers. "Autobots very good at screaming for help! Try now!"

**Lab**

"I believe it's time for me to meet our intruders personally. Especially Sumdac's daughter" The man got out of his chair and walked out of the room. Colossus turned to Blackarachnia. "Ha! Your friends are toast. What do you have to say now?" Blackarachnia struggled "They're not my friends, but they'll still take whatever you throw at them" Rhodes chuckled. "I'll look forward to testing that theory"

**Forest**

Wasp held Goldbug and CB at gunpoint while Bulkhead tried to work his wrecking ball free. "Where spider-bot?" Wasp asked. "Wasp, I swear I never hurt your… acquaintance" Wasp shot at him "Spider-bot Wasp's _only friend_! Wasp not lose her. Instead take Bumble-bot's only friend" He said, aiming at CB.

"No way, Wasp" Goldbug said, drawing his own stingers. "Yeah!" Bulkhead piped up, freeing his wrecking ball. "You can't have her. He's still _using_ her!" CB stood frozen. "Using me?" Goldbug was in a perilous situation. "Bulkhead, why are you blabbling my plans out?" "So all of it was a lie? All of it?" CB asked, close to tears, thinking of their growing relationship. Goldbug couldn't speak. Bulkhead smirked, but was interrupted by a blast of fire which knocked them all back.

The group looked up to see the Dinobots growling menacingly over them. "So much for trust!" CB yelled, shooting at anyone she could catch – Autobot, Decepticon or Dinobot. This caught the attention of Lugnut, who transformed and launched towards the island, activating his Punch Of Kill Everything. The impact blew them away to an open clearing. "Why are they doing this?" Godlbug asked. "They're doing it because they're mean and dumb and we should never have stuck with Optimus!" Bulkhead yelled.

Before they could continue to argue, they heard roars. "Grimlock stomp enemies!" "No, Grimlock!" Goldbug yelled "You're losing your mind!" "Grimlock know what he does!" they were surrounded by all five Dinobots, who were about to attack when held back. "Stay your claws, Dinobots" They looked up to see…

"Prometheus Black?" CB asked "Miss Sumdac. I never thought I'd see you grow into such a lovely form" CB stood up, still angry at Goldbug "I'm not listening to anyone, not even you, Black!" "Please, call me Meltdown" Black raised out his hand and out shot a strange substance, which burned into Bulkhead's chest. Bulkhead screamed in pain an fell to the ground. Meltdown shook his head in disappointment "So the reports are true. The Dinobots are of heartier stock than the average Autobot" Goldbug looked at Grimlock, who shrunk back. "Sorry. Meltdown hurt Dinobots"

Wasp drew his stingers again "Where Spider-Lady?" He asked Meltdown. "Ah yes, the 'Decepticon' The inspiration for my newest Biotech Unbound experiment" Wasp charged forward, dodging a blast of acid from Meltdown's acid gloves. Goldbug knocked CB away from the blast. "Nice try, Goldbug. But it's over" CB said scathingly. '_Isn't it?_' She thought. Meltdown pressed a button, and a trapdoor opened underneath Goldbug, CB and Wasp. Grimlock accidentally slipped in as well. The Dinobots stared on as the door closed. "Do as you please, Dinobots" The Dinobots dispersed into the forest. Meltdown typed something into his wrist, remembering Lugnut. It opened to reveal a small rocket dart "Try this one on for size, big boy"

Meltdown launched the missile into the forest. As Lugnut rose from the crater he created, the dart found its target, flooding his circuits with a dose of Blackarachnia's cyber venom. Lugnut collapsed in pain.

**Lab**

Wasp woke up to find himself in some kind of cell, similar to a CR chamber. He tried to bash his way out, but it was no use. He looked out the window to see Blackarachnia. So his trip hadn't been in vain. But then he saw Meltdown and Colossus Rhodes, and lining the walls – insects caught in webs and disgusting looking organics curled up in tanks. Wasp shuddered to think how they ended up that way.

"What are you doing now?" Blackarachnia asked. "All will be revealed in time" Meltdown said as he walked onto a balcony, overlooking a giant room with walls fixed with military grade steel. In the room was Goldbug, CB and Grimlock.

"Sari?" Goldbug asked "Don't call me that! Ever!" CB turned away. "Sari, about what Bulkhead said - " "You're saying it's true?" "Yes, but - " "But what?" "But I never thought - " "That I would find out? Time changes people a lot. I'm not the wide-eyed kid I was when Optimus abducted me" "Yeah" Godlbug went on "And I'm not the sneaky, manipulative bot I thought I was." This got CB's attention. "What do you mean?"

Goldbug was interrupted by the arrival of Meltdown. "What do you want, Black? What is this place?" CB asked, still using his name out of spite. "Before the war, the Black family had a certain amount of wealth. Part of it was used to buy this island for private experimentation. Now, the coffers have almost run dry. But, this isn't about money."

"So what is it? Stop monologuing" Goldbug said. Grimlock had regained consciousness by this time. "Your friend is a perfect fusion of cybernetics and organic material. The Decepticon, an almost perfect fusion. Since technorganics have been proven to exist, I thought I would take this to the next level." "Like what?" "Imagine a robot concealed inside an organic shell, which the robot would wear like a suit. Pretending to be what it's not" He then looked down towards the cage underneath them. "Sadly, my experiments to date have been somewhat unsuccessful" Out from the shadows emerged two freaks of nature:

* a bat with a patchwork humanoid body, a shrunken arm, a crab left foot and a crustacean shell

* a shark creature with ripped clothing, a cephalopod left arm, a crab claw right arm and diodes on it's head.

"These are what used to be my lawyer and stoke broker respectively. They still retain enough sentience for good use, but my experiment is still not perfected. Until now." Meltdown continued. "Soon I will administer a formula that will turn the two Decepticons into Pretender wonders, or, if things go wrong, creatures like them." Meltdown turned and walked away, opening the cage behind him. "Enjoy"

Blackarachnia heard everything from the table, and was horrified. "You can't do this, Meltdown! What have we ever done to you?" "Nothing to me directly, but the end results of my experiments will be a welcome change once the Autobots in Detroit are taken care of." Meltdown turned to Wasp's cell. "Now, about you" He said, picking a wasp from a web. He opened a try in the side of the chamber, put the insect in and listened to Wasp's tortured screams as he was engulfed by smoke. "No!" Blackarachnia cried.

CB, Goldbug and Grimlock were back to back against the mutations. "Fish + electricity equals sad times, Goldbug" CB whispered. Goldbug stabbed his stingers at the Seafood Louis Creature. Grimlock transformed to Robot and drew his flaming sword. "Me Grimlock smash bad bat!" The Bat Monster swooped around, hitting Grimlock whenever he turned. "Where other Dinobots when need them?"

Grimlock saw the Bat Monster and blasted a flame from his sword, which missed, melting the balcony instead.

"Looks like it's getting out of control, boss. Should I go down?" Rhodes asked. "Not now, I'm rather busy" Meltdown replied, working on the device connected to the table Blackarachnia was on. "That's a genetic modifier, isn't it?" "Exactly. It's how I was able to create my two fighters down in the pit. And now it's how you'll become a Pretender." Meltdown was about to push the button when the chamber started to spark, then exploded.

Out buzzed a giant creature, which shifted into a towering bug creature. Rhodes gasped and bulked up. "That thing broke loose!" "Wasp not thing! Wasp upgrade!" The creature spoke in a gravelly voice "Now Wasp powerful! Wasp WASPINATOR!"

Rhodes charged, dodging Waspinator's improved stingers, represented by a pair of smaller arms underneath the main ones. As the two grappled, Meltdown continued, activating the machine. As the genetic modifier took effect, Blackarachnia screamed in pain.

Down in the pit, the combatants took note of the noise. "Think we should help?" Goldbug asked. CB wasn't sure, but Grimlock had made up his mind, clambering up, demolishing the balcony and smashing into lab. Grimlock roared and ripped the modifier from the table.

"Give that back, primitive!" Meltdown shot Grimlock in the chest, causing him to spit out the modifier. The device fell onto Meltdown, still active. As he fell back, Meltdown felt his body begin to change. "You cursed thing! Look what you've done!" He yelled, as his body began to secret with acid. Grimlock stood dimly, his head sparking all the time. He then transformed to robot mode, taking Waspinator and Rhodes by surprise. He knocked them out the lab and into the trees.

Meltdown rose in rage. Seeing Circuit Breaker, he blasted acid. She flipped aside, blasting holes in him. The holes just refilled with acid. CB grabbed the active modifier and shoved it into his chest. Meltdown yelled as he began to disintegrate into a pile of goo.

Goldbug went over to Grimlock, who was standing silently. "Whoa, how'd you stop that machine?" "I… Grimlock…" Grimlock spoke slowly. "… used my rear molars" "Oh, okay" Goldbug then did a double take. "What?" "Must I reiterate continually?" Grimlock spoke in a calm, science-y whispery voice. "Using my teeth, I deprived the machine of its power source." CB looked around. "Huh? Where's Blackarachnia?" She had disappeared from the table. "I kinda hope she's okay" Goldbug admitted. "You do?" CB asked. "Come. I recommend we return to our allies and to base" Grimlock spoke. As he left, CB flew up onto Goldbug's shoulder. "Sari, I- I'm sorry. If you want to forgive me or not it's your choice." CB smiled slightly. "We'll see." CB leaned in and kissed Goldbug on the cheek.

Grimlock trudged down the slope in robot mode. For some reason he loathed his beast mode now. He found his fellow Dinobots down by a large pond. They looked ecstatic to see their leader. "You come fish with Dinobots, Grimlock?" Snarl asked. "Please, Snarl. Can't you comprehend I have more important things to attend?" The Dinobots looked confused. "But Dinobots always fish together" "I have to determine strategy, schematics and the like. Some other time perhaps?" He walked off. "Him have to do what?" Sludge asked.

Blackarachnia slunk through the forest. She hurt all over, who knows what had happened to Wasp, and she was stuck on this island. She heard growling from in front of her and behind her. She looked back to see Meltdown's experiments, who were suddenly quivering. Blackarachnia looked forward to see Lugnut. "Lugnut? What are you doing here? Where's Wasp?" Lugnut was eerily silent. He kicked Blackarachnia down, and raised his fist, the button beeping…

As the Autobots sailed away on the boat, they didn't notice a bug in the air, or a large KABOOM!

**Author's notes**

Wow, a lot happened here. For Meltdown's experiments – Bat Monster is Grimlock's nickname for it and the Seafood Louis creature is named by Captain Fanzone, both in the AllSpark Almanac. Grimlock's intelligence is a throwback to the G1 episode 'Grimlock's New Brain'


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The darkness of the night was interrupted only by chirping crickets and the toll of the bell. Both were then joined by the sound of a van starting up outside the National Bank. The two SWAT members got into the cab and drove off, unaware that they were being watched by a mysterious figure.

_Aaron aka 'The Angry Archer' had been a master of his trade since he was eighteen. In the middle of the old war his poverty-stricken parents had been wrongfully arrested on orders from Sumdac System for hiding enemies of Porter C. Powell._

Once the van stopped at a red light, A.A raised his old-style bow, pulled out a magnetic arrow, pulled it back and launched at the van.

"Tally-ho!" he cried, imitating his hero, Robin Hood. He then slipped down the rope and onto the van, which was turning right on the green light.

A.A launched another arrow which used a laser cutter to punch a hole in the roof of the van. After staring at the circle, the SWAT members looked up to see the perpetrator.

"Stand and deliver, old sport!" A.A cried, launching two arrows with fists on the ends, knocking the men out.

_He had begged the authorities to release his parents, but Captain Bennett, Fanzone's narcissistic predecessor, had different ideas. He offered Aaron a deal; if he could gain enough money for bail within a week, he would let his parents go free. Seeing no choice, Aaron took his offer, and turned to crime to find the money._

A.A tied the moneybags to his belt using some rope. "Forsooth!" he exclaimed in triumph. "The Angry Archer is victorious!"

He the turned around upon hearing sirens to see four police cars on his tail. A.A stepped back, observed the area, and saw a flagpole that he could grab onto. He launched an arrow and launched off the van, climbing onto the rooftop. It was no easier than it had been years ago.

_After studying the stories of Robin Hood, Aaron had donned a special costume and a custom bow and arrow payload, as well as an old English-style accent. Though he had a few slip ups at first, Aaron had managed to get enough money to bail his parents out with one more day to go. How he hoped his parents would be proud that he, the Angry Archer, had saved them._

After climbing down the building, A.A found a chance to catch his breath, but knew that his pursuers wouldn't give up so easily. Suddenly, his phone rang. "Who would acquaint himself with the Angry Archer?" he asked into the phone.

'_Someone who can help you._" a slick voice came replied."_Go forward and look to your left. The keys are in the ignition_' A.A. took the directions and looked left to see a khaki-yellow SUV parked in the alleyway.

"From whence comes this?" A.A asked, stepping cautiously forward. Ever since the Autobots had arrived, people had learned to be more cautious and respectful towards machines. Hearing footsteps and sirens changed his mind, and he leapt into the van, which raced off without a word.

A.A was thrown back and at a loss for words. "Th-this chariot is alive!"

"Thank you, I try my best." the SUV said with that same slick car salesman voice as before "You're the 'Angry Archer'. From what I hear, you make it your business to 'steal from the rich and give to the poor'" "You heard correctly" A.A affirmed, thinking back…

_He came to the police station carrying the money, entering to find a grisly sight. He parents were lying on the ground with their necks snapped, Captain Bennett standing over them with an evil grin and policemen aiming his guns at them. "Aaron Archer, you're under arrest for robbery," Bennett said as Aaron was restrained. He walked over to the sack of money. "I think I'll just keep this for myself"_

"Uh, are you okay? You blanked out," the SUV asked.

"Yes, yes. Anyway, you are told correct. I steal from the rich and give to the poor"

"Good, because that's just the kind of partner that I'm looking for"

A.A was confused. "What means thou?"

"What would you say if I told you I could help you get rid of the biggest nuisance in town – the Autobots?"

"I'd say 'what do you seek of this bargain?'" A.A responded.

"I'll just sleep better knowing that they're off the streets. Well, on the streets, yet inoperable" The SUV answered.

A.A looked uncertain.

"I know you have every reason to be suspicious," The SUV assured him, "but I give you my word as an honest man that I will not betray you"

"Tell me more," A.A said. The SUV drove on, not knowing that it was being watched.

**Garbage disposal plant**

Sentinel has his remaining servo full. First he had detected an unidentified object crash near their location, but was unable to find anything. Now he was about to get a call from Ultra Magnus himself.

The old mech appeared on screen. "Sentinel Minor, it's been an entire decacycle. Have you found the fugitive yet?"

"No sir. Orion Pax now calls himself Optimus Prime. Two of his team and Jazz have defected to us, but Optimus also has a group of monsters called the Dinobots at his beck and call. On top of that, there have been several Decepticon sightings on the planet. I think we've severely underestimated our enemies"

"You've underestimated the enemy, Sentinel Minor! I never fail, I assure you," Magnus bellowed. "I will be coming myself to validate your claims and retrieve the AllSpark with my bare servos I necessary"

"We'll prepare for your arrival then, sir" Sentinel replied as the transmission was cut. He then went onto the comlink. "Soldiers, get your fanbelts to the main audience chamber now!"

All of Sentinel's Autobot were assembled; Jazz, Jetfire & Jetstorm, Beachcomber, Powerglide, Warpath, Blurr, Windcharger, Side Burn, Huffer, Scoop and Crosshairs. Nobody seemed to notice or care about Getaway's death, as per the norm.

"Ultra Magnus himself is arriving to this planet. It could be in a day, or it could be ten years. Regardless, it is imperative that we make progress"

In the audience, Scoop had slipped and was quivering with fear and sucking his thumb. "Come on, Scoop," Huffer reassured. "At least we'll be able to conquer this planet. All in a day's work" No matter how bad things were, Huffer was always unwaveringly enthusiastic about them. It was all rather creepy and pitiful to be honest.

Sentinel was disgusted. "That's what I'm talking about! When I see you lot, I am filled with an unusual sense of loathing and revulsion! You're not soldiers! You're a bunch of turbo-foxes just waiting and praying to be hunted down!" Scoop scrambled to his feet. Sentinel sighed. "Well, no more of that. We'll capture or kill any Decepticon or Autobot fugitive we come across – starting with the one that got past our security cameras"

"In that case, you'll be running a fool's errand," a voice sounded in the room. Everyone looked around.

Out from the shadows emerged a thin black and silver robot of middle stature, adorned with heavy protective armor, mods, a samurai-esque helmet, and, most importantly, the Autobot symbol.

Sentinel drew his lance "Who are you?" he asked.

The mystery robot drew a pair of shurikens and threw them, taking out Crosshairs and Huffer. "My name is Prowl, though now I have taken on a new moniker – Lockdown's successor'"

The standing Autobots began murmuring amongst themselves. Lockdown had struck a subtle fear into them when he was still alive. How much worse would his successor and possible killer be?

"Why would I need the services of a bounty hunter?" Sentinel asked, unwavering.

"Because, as you said a minute ago, your soldiers are protoform turbofoxes. None of them can stand up to Optimus Prime like I can," was Prowl's reply

Scoop spoke up, stuttering, "B-but, Prowl, d-didn't Optimus fit you with those shackles?"

"The coward's got a good memory," Jazz backed up. "So, where are they?"

Prowl rubbed his wrists. "One was knocked loose in the crash, and I sliced off the other with my new upgrades"

Sentinel murmured something then looked up, slightly defeated. "Alright, what price will suit you?"

"There's only one price I will accept – Optimus Prime, murdered"

Sentinel grinned in anticipation…

**Airbase**

The nearby airbase was in chaos. Fires were raging and parts of broken aircraft were strewn everywhere. It was a sight Captain Fanzone could hardly stand.

"Is that everyone evacuated?" He asked into his megaphone.

"Yes, sir," a nearby medic answered.

Fanzone was relieved. But if only the same could be said for the untold collateral damage caused here. The main Autobots had moved further downtown, leaving them with a ruined city in the hands of that Sentinel clown.

Then he heard a revving behind him, and turned to see an S.U.V park up behind him.

"You, civilian! This is a police matter! Leave and go about you business"

Out of the S.U.V stepped the last person he'd expect. "My business is yours, constable."

"Angry Archer?" Fanzone asked. He looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Can we talk, in private?" Fanzone asked.

"Why, certainly" A.A replied. "My good friend here will put us in good hands"

Fanzone was suspicious. He saw no symbol anywhere on the vehicle, but was still convinced that it wasn't what it seemed.

After seeking cover behind a wrecked hangar, the S.U.V spoke up. "Now, to business"

Suddenly, the S.U.V changed colour from khaki yellow to a camouflage jungle green and began folding out into its natural form. Fanzone prepared to run, but then saw the red symbol of the Decepticons clear as daylight on its chest.

"A Decepticon?" Fanzone asked. "That's a relief. Frankly, I think we could use more of you guys these days"

The S.U.V, with its wide yellow eyes stepped forward.

"The name's Swindle. Don't let it fool you though; it's a sort of moniker my fellow 'salespeople' tend to use towards me. I heard there was some problem in this sector of space," he said, looking around. "It pains the spark to see such mindless carnage"

Then he leaned down on one leg, opened up his chest compartment, and pulled out something. "Which is why I'm offering this to you free of charge," Swindle suddenly said, going into sales-bot mode. He handed Captain Fanzone a large canister.

"Uh, thanks" Captain Fanzone said. "What is it?"

Swindle smiled "Why it's Menonian super-glue," he said, picking up a pick of wall, hooking the cannon on his arm up to the tank, and spraying a small bit of white liquid on the fracture points. "Capable of putting anything together, whether it is suffering from simply frag weapons to Dahros glass gas" He continued as he placed the wall back in its place.

Seeing the wall stay upright where it was, Fanzone and A.A were quite impressed.

"Nifty," Fanzone commented. "Indeed it is," A.A added.

Swindle closed his compartment "And completely free. I trust this meets your satisfaction"

Fanzone turned with a sound of satisfaction in his voice. "It sure does. I'll have the men rig this up to the fire trucks" Fanzone leaned in to whisper to Swindle.

"And, if you ever get a chance to talk to your Decepticon pals, tell 'em Captain Fanzone and the Detroit Police Department have their support, and so do the civilians here"

"This message shall be delivered, Constable Fanzone" A.A said with satisfaction. "Thou art truly a more noble man than thy predecessor"

With that, Swindle transformed, picked up A.A and drove away, knowing they couldn't stay long.

**Western Detroit**

Sentinel and Jazz were following Prowl down the road with the jet twins following from above. With his upgrades, Prowl had managed to modify his vehicle mode to include a sidecar.

"Are you _sure_ this is where the signal is coming from?" Sentinel asked.

"I'm as sure as I was the last twenty times you asked me" Prowl said, with no hint of emotion.

Jazz was still unimpressed "Just lead us there, Prowl, then I'll test your claims"

"Oh, of course, _master_" Prowl replied, putting extra sarcasm on the last word, which infuriated Jazz to no end.

Suddenly, Prowl screeched to a halt and transformed. "Halt. We're close" The other two transformed and readied their weapons. Prowl pried the door open and wandered inside. He jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a giant tiger coloured S.W.A.T van ready to run him over.

The trio transformed and sped off after the vehicle. "You getting what I'm getting, S.M?" Jazz asked. "I am. AllSpark energy"

Prowl was hardly surprised. He knew that Optimus would be foolish not to take advantage of the Key or the AllSpark fragment scattered around the planet.

But he also knew that he was no fool. Something didn't quite add up in Prowls mind.

But everything added up perfectly in Sentinel's mind, as he gave his orders. "Jetfire, Jetstorm, transform and cut this mudflap off!"

"_Right, sir!_" The two teenagers chimed in over their comms. The jet twins transformed and landed right in front of the van, Jetfire created a wall of flame in front between them.

The van tried to turn around, but Prowl transformed, activated his turbo-boosters, and stabbed the vehicle multiple times with his new laser scalpel. The tires and sides of the van were slashed and sparking. Sentinel transformed and drew his lance. "End of the line, um…" Sentinel stuttered as he tried to remember the name of the Autobot that was a van. "Bulkhead. I remember now. All bulk and no brains"

"I'll say," Jazz said. "Who'd _ever_ want to stumble around in a gaudy paint job like _that_?"

Sentinel paid no heed, as he barked orders to the twins. "Drag this sorry pile of scrap back to base. When the others call in I'll contract Ultra Magnus"

The jets attached chains to the front of the van, transformed and blasted off into the sky, knocking the grounders over.

"I meant gently!" Sentinel called after them, before sighing. "Those two _never_ listen to me"

**Mid Detroit**

A.A and Swindle were camped in the alleyway where Wreck-Gar had hid when he first came online. Swindle was trying to contact someone, but A.A had no idea who.

Swindle finally had success. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

A German accent came through. "Swindle?"

A spinning sound was made. "_It is you! You make me so happy!_"

"Blitzwing, you old clown!" Swindle greeted cheerfully. "It's been stellar cycles. I was hoping to speak to Starscream, is he here?"

"_Ooh, that's a little problem. See, there's now about six of them around now! Hahaha!_"

Swindle slightly flinched. "Okay. Well, can you get the original Starscream?"

"Of course, one moment"

A short while later, a different voice came through. "Swindle? What are you doing on Earth?"

"I heard of a large problem brewing here, and I decided your join your little circus"

Starscream considered for a while "We're a little short on space in our base. And the humans don't seem to trust us, except Mr Masterson."

Swindle decided to bring in the good news. "But there's still hope, old friend. Down here, in the lower parts of Detroit, there are people that have actual faith in you, among them Police Captain Fanzone"

Starscream considered. "What's the catch?" he asked.

"No catch," Swindle answered. "Just bring the whole gang, make a speech, do some daring act and that'll- "

Before Swindle could finish, he and A.A were thrown back by an explosion. A.A came to finding himself in a sort of goo. Then he saw Swindle lying face down on the ground, a hole in his back and a look of pain on his face.

"Swindle? What happened?"

A.A called out as best he could "We have beset upon! Aid would be appreciated"

"Hold on, we're on our way!"

A.A turned to see Huffer, Warpath and Scoop standing over them.

"Well – POW! – looky what we got here" Warpath drawled deeply.

"Great shot, Scoop" Huffer said in an oily voice "And you too, Warpath. That tin can never knew what hit him"

Scoop, however, was transfixed on A.A. "Why do I still have these useless glop grenades? I'd be a lot less afraid of humans if I had something better"

Warpath stumbled forward while A.A spotted his bow lying on the side.

"Looks like you might get that 'something better' BOOM!" Warpath replied. "If I'm right, this here bot's Swindle." He pried open his chest. "And, if the rumors are true, this is a private transwarp frequency to his own personal storage dimension"

AS Warpath was about to reach in, he was hit by the same type of laser cutter arrow A.A had used on the armoured van, cutting a chunk of his armor off.

As Warpath stumbled back, clutching his hand in pain, Swindle came to.

"Archer…" Swindle said weakly, "what's going on?"

"You allies are on the way, but these Autobot knaves are still at large"

Huffer was about to close in for the kill when he was knocked away by machine gun fire. Scoop looked up to see a bright red harrier jet swoop over them. As it coming back, Warpath aimed his chest cannon, fired and blew its wing off, causing the jet to crash to the ground, Scoop screaming all the while.

"Too easy" Warpath said, hooking up the jet to Huffer's truck mode.

Warpath turned around. "Now, for you two-" He was then cut off by his comlink.

"Warpath, has your team made progress?" the voice of Sentinel asked.

"Yes, boss. We bagged on Decepti-creep"

"Good, now get back to base"

"But, sir, what about-"

"Don't talk! Just listen and do and maybe you might learn something"

Warpath sighed in resignation, transformed to tank mode and rolled after the others.

Watching helplessly, Swindle and A.A heard a truck screech up to them and transform, followed by three jets – one white and burgundy red, the other black and purple, the last white and light red.

"Hello" Wreck-Gar greeted. "Would you like some garbage?"

Starscream groaned as he helped Swindle to his feet. "How badly are you damaged?"

"Not too badly," Swindle said "But your friend is in bigger danger"

Starscream looked perplexed. "Our 'friend'?"

"Aye" A.A confirmed. "A flying machine completely red, like yon vehicle mode"

Skywarp stepped forward "Unless Sunstorm's changed his paint job, there's no one like that here." He looked at Ramjet "Is there?"

"All Seekers were present and accounted for" Ramjet truthfully confirmed.

Starscream was suspicious. "Did this jet transform? And what weaponry did it use?"

A.A spoke up "It fired machine gun bullets, quite unlike your lasers, and it stayed in one shape, even when it was shot down and captured by the Autobots"

Suddenly, everyone realised something was going on…

**Garbage disposal plant**

Sentinel watched as Warpath's team placed the almost intact wreck of the harrier jet next to the van.

He summoned Jazz "Jazz, I'd say Prowl did quite a good job there. I think he deserves a reward and a place on this team," he whispered. "Go get him will you"

Jazz shook his head. "No can do. Prowl's just flown the coop and I can't reach him on the comlink."

Sentinel almost blew a fuse and then restrained himself. He wandered over to the vehicles to inspect them. Just as he was about to touch them, Windcharger spoke up. "You sure that's a good idea, sir? I say we slag them right here"

"I'll inspect our captives however I please, Windcharger." Sentinel said, blowing him off. When he touched them, however, something definitely went wrong.

The windows in the van glowed, and then slid back. Then the harrier jet's cockpit glowed and opened. Both of them revealed shatter bombs!

A small recorded message came through 'Hello and goodbye, Sentinel'

The explosion could be seen from a great distance, reducing the garbage disposal plant to utter ashes. Sentinel rose from the water and coughed up some seaweed. How could he have been so foolish and stupid?

"Get your skidplates in gear!" He called to his damaged and disoriented troops. "We're moving out!"

From a distance, all the assembled Decepticons could see the explosion.

"Autobots get what they deserve" Waspinator buzzed. The Decepticons were at first put off by his new appearance, but had gotten used to Waspinator in short order.

"Not all of them were there by choice, Waspinator" Slipstream replied, a hint of sorrow evident in her voice.

Starscream turned to the others. "I don't think the Autobots are vanquished yet. But right now, this city takes higher priority. We will do our best to fix the damage that's been done. And, perhaps, the humans might start trusting us"

So, the long work on Earth was about to begin, while in space, the Death's Head was speeding as far from the planet as possible, for Lockdown's successor was ready to lend his services to those who could pay…

**Author's notes**

Deeply sorry for my long hiatus, what with school and all that, but I was also worried about how this chapter would turn out.

So, yeah, Swindle and the Angry Archer have joined the Decepticons. The decoys with the bombs came from 'A Fistful of Energon', but while Starscream was monologuing, giving his enemies ample time to escape and diffuse the plan; Optimus keeps it short and sweet.

I may be back to writing again. Again, apologies for keeping you all waiting. Especially to you, NoRatCat.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

While Eastern Detroit had been liberated by the Decepticons, Western Detroit was still under Autobot control. Optimus Prime had learned of what had happened and was, displeased, to say the least. All he could do was continue planning. Without a base or victories at least a few of Sentinel's troops would have thoughts about deserting.

But, for now, he had to do with Goldbug, Bulkhead, Circuit Breaker, Grimlock and the Dinobots, who were currently working on repairing a highway for later fortification. Swoop was operating a crane to lift loads of steel beams, as his arms were the thinnest. Goldbug was welding and the others were doing the smashing and heavy lifting.

Goldbug wiped the equivalent of his brow. "Okay," he sighed, "I'm officially bored"

He turned down to Optimus. "Hey, Boss-Bot, how about a coolant break?"

"You just had one two cycles ago"

"But I'm thirsty!"

"Dinobots thirsty too!" Sludge called

Optimus drew his axe threateningly. "Not you too! Remember, I control all aspects of your lives, and I can decide whether or not I want you to hit the dust or not. Now, get back to work"

Goldbug turned away from his leader. "Someone's going to be hitting the dust, alright," he muttered quietly.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a white, purple and turquoise Scion xB dragging a trailer of construction materials behind it - a strangely familiar one too.

"But, for once, it's not going to be another Autobot!" Goldbug leapt down. At last he would get a chance to get even with that deranged lamp post for his earlier encounter.

"Man, this load's a big one," Soundwave commented. "But, the guilt and half the workload is taken away because I'm taking _this_ away from the Auto-bozos"

Soundwave was nearly at the entrance when Goldbug landed near him.

"What's your hurry?" Godlbug asked. "Got something that doesn't belong to you?"

The small black and gold Autobot charged up his stingers, but had to step aside to avoid being run over by Soundwave.

"Snarl smash!" The triceratops called out, breaking into a run at the sight of a Decepticon.

Determined not to be beaten to the punch, and to cause extra destruction, Bulkhead launched his wrecking-ball, knocking Soundwave into a bridge support, which Snarl crashed into regardless.

As the support began to crack, Soundwave transformed to robot mode and used his limited abilities of flight to carry as many supplies away as possible, though Megatron would be disappointed that it wouldn't be as much as hoped.

As the bridge support cracked more, the bridge began to rumble, surprising a trio of human workers. The bridge was held up by Sludge, who held it up with his neck.

Optimus turned to the workers. "Go about you own business," he told them in his usual tone. "_We'll_ handle this."

"Again," Goldbug complained.

It was night time before the bridge was finally repaired. As Goldbug was putting on the finishing touches, the other Autobots decided to head back to their base in order to receive repairs from their newest activation, Fixit.

Some considered Fixit, a product of an AllSpark fragment, a poor bot's Ratchet, but he could be much worse in some ways. He would do a decent repair job, but he wouldn't do it for free. Fixit always demanded a small payment for his 'hard work'.

Though the Autobots disliked it, they had to put up with Fixit, seeing as how they were low on numbers and desperately needed a medic.

"Coming, Bulkhead?" Optimus asked. Bulkhead was mixing a large cauldron of cement, some of which had spilled and glued his feet to the ground.

Bulkhead looked shiftily around. "Uh, I'll catch up"

Once Optimus had left, Bulkhead tried to force his way free. Eventually, he pulled his left foot out of the ground, but not out of the cement. In his clumsiness, he also knocked over the cement vat. Bulkhead groaned. Now he would need to make some more, and Bulkhead was no chemist.

Meanwhile, just an uncompleted building away, the workers had left the area, leaving the area deserted, save for three construction vehicles.

One was a cement truck, with a lift-loader scoop on the front and treads instead of back wheels. The next one was an excavator with a large bucket. And the last was a simple forklift.

Suddenly, without warning, three lights burst from the vehicles. Soon the lights faded, and the excavator turned, accidentally hitting the cement truck in the mixer.

"Hey!" the truck called out in a Brooklyn accent. "Watch where you're pointing that thing, Shovel head"

"Who are you calling Shovel head, Cement breath?" The excavator asked, taking offence in a similar accent.

"Calm down, the both of you," the forklift said, rolling forward in front of them, talking in the calm voice of a psychiatrist.

"I mean, really! We've just come upon this wonderful revelation, the fact that we can do all this, and you go at each other like a pair of unattended power drills"

The two vehicles in front of him couldn't complain there.

"Eh, sure, okay," the cement truck said. "But, my name is still not Cement breath. It's… it's, uh…"

The excavator spoke up. "Your little name tag says 'Mix Master'"

"Mmm, that's sort of a mouthful," the truck said. "You guys just call me 'Mix'"

"Right. You got it, Mix," the excavator acknowledged. "And you can call me…"

He looked around for something that might suggest a name, and saw a large sign that said…

"SCRAP"

"Mmm, too short for a normal name," the forklift decided. "How about 'Scrapper'?"

"I like it," the excavator, Scrapper, decided. "And, what are we gonna call you, boss?"

"Boss?" the forklift asked.

"Well, yeah," Mixmaster backed up, "seein' as how you stopped us fighting and all that."

The forklift paused for a while. "I suppose… you're right. I guess I am the boss, Dirt Boss"

The three vehicles paused briefly to reflect on their new names.

Scrapper was the first to break the silence. "So, uh, what do we do now?"

His answer came from Mixmaster "Duh, we, like, build things, alright?"

Then, Mixmaster began to unfold and shift into his robot form.

"Uh, Mix?" Scrapper asked "You're building things out of yourself."

Then Scrapper did the same, standing slightly taller than Mixmaster.

"Yo, Scrap! You're doing it too."

"Fascinating," Dirt Boss said, doing exactly the same thing. "It seems we now have the ability to talk, think, move for ourselves and remember our previous lives. In other words – we have become sentient"

"Do you think that this is happening for, like, a reason?" Scrap asked.

"Uh, yeah" Mix answered uncertainly.

"There's only one way to find out," Dirt Boss said from his diminutive point of view. "Let's search the area and find others like us"

"Sounds solid"

"Yeah, let's go"

The three construction vehicles transformed back to vehicle modes and drove off.

Meanwhile, Bulkhead was reading a formula for cement on his finger. "Mix one part dry concrete, one part water and one part fixative"

"So, what's a part?" he asked. "It must be like a standard Cybertronian cubic unit"

Having decided, Bulkhead stopped mixing to top the mixture off with the _pièce de résistance_, an entire barrel of fixative.

"Now, 454 standard units make one kilo-unit," Bulkhead remembered from his primary programming, "So, let's see… carry the 3 and… multiply or divide?"

In the end, he just threw the whole thing in; he had a few barrels more of the stuff anyway. The mixture soon began to bubble rapidly and glow yellow. "Is it supposed to do that?" Bulkhead asked.

His answer came in an explosion which knocked him back, rocking the crane, from which its precious cargo began to slip precariously.

On the highway above, Mix and Scrap were chasing after a red car, hoping it was a transformer like them, with Dirt Boss trying desperately to dissuade them.

Scrapper then looked slightly to his left. "Mix, you see that?" He asked, slightly alarmed at seeing Bulkhead.

The steel beams finally slipped, causing the crane's hook arm to snap and fall as well. With some quick thinking, Mixmaster, Scrapper and Dirt Boss managed to hold up the hook using the beams.

A small speck of rubble fell on Bulkhead, causing him to wake up. "What happened?" he asked, seeing a trio of yellow and grey characters around him.

"Don't you remember?" Scrap asked, to which Bulkhead shook his head.

"You should remember to check up on your fixative supplies, friend" Dirt Boss explained. Bulkhead looked a bit hurt.

Mix decided to step in, picking up a barrel of fixative in his hand. "What he means is, this stuff's old, outdated and very unstable. Dirt Boss meant no offence"

"Are you guys Autobots?" Bulkhead asked. "You're not Decepticons, or some of Sentinel's bunch, are you?"

"Okay, what's this guy talking about?" Mix asked, not knowing who the Decepticons of this 'Sentinel' were.

"I dunno," Scrap said. "Hi circuits must still be scrambled or something"

Bulkhead stood up. "Seriously, what are you?"

"Funny you should ask," Dirt Boss said. "We were just machines doing our regular jobs until we were hit by this weird light and became what we are now"

"Weird light?" Bulkhead soon put two and two together. "An AllSpark fragment!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure, AllSpark, whatever," said Mix. "Now, let's get this mess cleaned up, okay?"

Mixmaster poured some cement from his hand into both holes while Scrapper used a 'Stop' sign to smooth it out.

"Guys, I don't know how to thank you," Bulkhead said, graciously. Then he remembered something. "Wait, yeah I do. I know this place where we can kick back and down some good oil"

The others seemed intrigued. "I've never said no to a free drink before," Scrapper replied, "So, show the way."

Bulkhead was about to show them when he was held back by Mixmaster, who gestured to the pile of fixative barrels. "You gonna leave this stuff lying around so we can blow up again?" Mix asked.

Bulkhead heeded his advice and put the fixative away in his chest compartment, then led them to the docks, where an oil tanker was parked. Bulkhead used Scrapper's drill hand to drill a hole in the hull, then attached a tap, and filled four barrels of oil.

"You sure this is right?" Scrapper asked, uneasy.

"You worked for it, didn't you?" Bulkhead asked. "The humans aren't going to miss a few drops of oil while we're around"

Mixmaster took a generous sip. "Mmm, good stuff. 40-weight, at least, and not that synthetic junk either. Go for it, Dirt Boss"

Dirt Boss held the barrel in both servos and downed a bit. "It is good." He concluded.

"Yo, Mix, Dirt Boss, Bulky, check it out!" Scrapper signalled.

Behind them sped the red car they had chased earlier. Mix and Scrap got up to apologise.

"We're sorry about before, ma'am!" Mix called out to the car. "Hope nothing went wrong!"

Bulkhead got suspicious. These bots seemed a bit too 'nice' to be Autobots. He decided he would teach them.

"Hey, guys, I was thinking. Maybe I should take you back to base, and I'll show how to really handle a compact, my best friend's one"

"I thought we were your friends, Bulky" Mix said.

"I got lots of friends," Bulkhead replied, referring to Goldbug, Circuit Breaker and most of the Dinobots in the loosest definition of the term friends.

Soon after, they had arrived at base, and things were going well, sort of.

As Optimus and Grimlock looked on, Dirt Boss was conversing with Fixit about the terms of repair work and the like, Scrapper was playing catch with Snarl, and Mixmaster and Bulkhead were pacifying Sludge and Irontail some oil.

"Where did Bulkhead find these three?" Optimus asked. "I, Grimlock, know not, but they seem to be lacking in the qualities you require for our cause, wot?" was Grimlock's answer.

Sludge had gotten his head stuck in the barrel while Irontail let out a satisfied belch when he had finished his barrel. "Uh, uh, uh, Spikey," Mix said "It ain't finished 'til its flat"

Irontail burped quietly and let out a grunt of affirmation, stomping the barrel flat beneath his feet.

Optimus dragged Bulkhead away. "Bulkhead, remind me again why you decided to bring strangers into our base?"

"They're not strangers, they're my friends"

"For how long exactly?" Optimus asked.

"Okay, okay," Bulkhead said, defeated. "But they're good guys. They can fix things and they're cheaper than Fixit, and-"

"Yo, Bulky, catch!" Called Mixmaster, who threw the makeshift Frisbee towards him. Bulkhead ran off, catching the Frisbee and crashing into a corner of the base.

"Scrapper, think fast!" Bulkhead called from the rubble. The Frisbee whizzed past Scrapper, who was busy retrieving an empty oil barrel from Snarl. "Think what?" he asked.

CB, who was observing from the sidelines, dashed out of the way, but not quickly enough, as her pigtails were taken off as the Frisbee slammed into the wall. "Hey!" she complained "Those don't grow back overnight!"

Optimus had finally had enough, drawing his axe and slamming it into the ground. "Alright, that's it. Party's over!"

"But, sir," Dirt Boss objected, "I haven't finished my investigations with your medic"

"Actually, you have" Fixit replied curtly, walking away, "And, unless you need repairs done or even have the credits, I'm done with you"

Dirt Boss was shocked. "But, I-" "Forget about it, Dirt Boss," Mixmaster consoled, "We'll find someplace else"

The three bots left the premises, leaving Bulkhead alone with his intoxicated or angry companions and leader.

"You see, Optimus," Grimlock spoke up, "our efficiency has decreased within this time for a number of cycles, which we will not regain even with stasis naps"

Bulkhead had heard enough. "Give 'em a break. They've been online for just two or three megacycles, tops. They'll learn"

"In that time alone I could raise more efficient Autobots than those three," Optimus said. "And probably replace you with another Dinobot"

That really put Bulkhead in a bad mood. "Come on, they helped me out of a jam. Besides, it's not like they're a bunch of goody-goodys or anything"

Early next morning, Powerglide and Side Burn were busy pushing crates of supplies up a steep road. It suited Powerglide fine because he hated flying, thinking it was boring and made one an easy target. It also served to get him a few second away from those little twerp twins.

"Ever notice that whenever there's hard work Sentinel's not around?" Side Burn asked.

"Hnh, maybe Optimus' trap should have destroyed him. He'd be doing us a favour." Powerglide agreed.

Suddenly, Side Burn accidentally slipped and slid down the road at high speed. As he closed his eyes, waiting for the imminent crushing, his heard a clank above. He looked up to See Mixmaster, Scrapper and Dirt Boss looking down at him.

"You okay, bro?" Mix asked as Powerglide caught up to them.

"Do I look okay?" Side Burn asked, rubbing his backside. "I'll need to redecorate later, and that's not going to be easy"

"What in the name of Fortress Maximus are you lot?" Powerglide asked.

"I dunno," Scrapper answered. "Autobots, maybe"

Powerglide levelled his blaster at Scrapper. "'Autobots, maybe'? Give us definite answer!"

Once again, Mix tried to play the role of mediator. "Okay, bad guess. How about Constructobots?"

This did nothing to dissuade Powerglide, as Side Burn's blaster joined his. Suddenly, sirens sounded and Jazz came racing towards them, transforming.

"Move it, trash cans! The coppers are one their way and-" Jazz then noticed the Constructobots. "Oh, spark's sake, not again" Jazz remembered his encounter with Wreck-Gar.

"These bots came up claiming to be Autobots," Powerglide reported. "But I don't believe them. I say we waste them"

Jazz, not wanted to make another mistake like last time, thought carefully. "Drag 'em with us. Sentinel will want to inspect 'em"

Back at the gathering point, there was clearly unrest. Most Autobots had not been properly repaired from the explosion, and there were mutterings amongst them. Beachcomber, in particular, was more twitchy than usual.

Sentinel observed his troops return. "Who are these bots?" he asked. "These cats say they're Autobots, S.M" This piqued Sentinel's interest. "Alright, who's the leader of you three?" Dirt Boss stepped up. "Me, sir" At that, Sentinel led them away.

After a while, Sentinel stepped out in front of his soldiers. Though he had been put off a bit by Scrapper and Mixmaster, he found Dirt Boss a promising possible soldier and psychiatrist, the kind the Elite Guard might need.

"Alright, crankshafts," Sentinel started, with the Constructobots standing next to them. "As of now, we've gained a boost in our ranks – the Constructobots here"

Before he could continue, Side Burn spoke up. "What?" he asked. "We can't trust them! They just came along one cycle and say their Autobots! It could be a trap" Side Burn continued, arguing his case.

"I won't take dissidence from a soldier of your rank, Side Burn!" Sentinel addressed.

"Who's to blame him?" Windcharger joined in. "Every decision you've made has led us from bad to worse!"

Sentinel was powerless as more voices sounded against him.

"It was you who got our base blown up by those decoys!" Powerglide called.

"It was you who failed to destroy the Dinobots when you had the chance!" Scoop shrieked.

The Constructobots looked uneasy as Jazz, Blurr and the twins edged up to Sentinel.

Warpath slammed his fists together. "And it's you who brought us here in the first place!"

Sentinel drew his lance. "If any bot wants to challenge me let him speak"

That shut the Autobots up. Sentinel turned to the Constructobots. "Any of you got a cranking problem?"

"N-no, no, sir, no cranking, nothing" Mix said uneasily.

"No, I'm fine" Dirt Boss said.

"N-no, you're the boss, Sentinel, sir" Scrapper finished.

"Good, now here's your first assignment…"

Later that afternoon, Bulkhead was driving down the road searching for his friends. He had left his fixative behind at the construction site.

"Mixmaster! Scrapper! Dirt Boss!" Bulkhead called out. "You guys wanna hang out? Fix some bridges, then smash them, then fix 'em again…"

As he was muttering 'fixing and smashing' over and over he noticed the sound of sirens, and looked up to see his friends carrying supplies and on the run from human police drones.

"Why?" Dirt Boss despaired, "Why do I do this?"

Bulkhead transformed. "Leave my friends alone!" he yelled, smashing the drones with his wrecking ball. He then turned to his pals.

"Hey, guys." He greeted. "Hey, you're stealing stuff! That's more like an Autobot!"

Scrapper spoke up. "Well, about that, Bulky. We don't really like the sound of that. We seen a few things that made us think a bit"

Bulkhead was suspicious. "What stuff?" he asked. "Who were you stealing for?"

Mixmaster answered him. "A couple o' bots. Main guy called Sentinel. Man, he-"

Before he could finish, Bulkhead socked Mixmaster in the jaw.

"Are you nuts? You're serving the wrong side!" Bulkhead yelled.

"A strange assessment from a robot who wears the same symbol as their supposed 'enemies'" Dirt Boss said as Scrap helped his brother up.

Bulkhead picked up Dirt Boss by the throat. "No one tell me who to smash!" Then his expression softened. "I.. I kinda thought we were friends" he said sadly.

Then he dropped Dirt Boss to the ground. "My mistake" he grunted.

However, that was enough for the twin jets up above them.

"Look, brother! Constructobots talking with bulbous one!" Jetfire called out.

"Mr Glide is right!" Jetstorm agreed. "We have been cross-doubled!"

No sooner than Powerglide's name was uttered that he sped past them without a single thought.

Back on the ground, Bulkhead and the Constructobots watched as Side Burn, Huffer, Crosshairs and Scoop sped past them. Then, they saw on the horizon Sentinel and the remaining Autobots. Apparently, the mutiny hadn't been quite put down.

"Get back here, deserters!" Sentinel screamed.

"Truce?" Dirt Boss asked.

He didn't even get an answer, as the four transformed and sped away from Sentinel, unaware of what was coming.

At the construction site, Optimus and the other Autobots were assembled with Bulkhead's stockpile of fixative, and a good supply of cement to go with it.

As soon as Bulkhead and the Constructobots arrived, Optimus stepped out.

"Well, well, Bulkhead. Having fun with your 'friends', are you?" He asked maliciously.

"They joined Sentinel!" Bulkhead screamed, pointing at the surrounded Constructobots. "They're no friends of mine"

Optimus handed Bulkhead a barrel of fixative and cement. "Prove it. Use this to wipe their memories."

Bulkhead hesitantly took the barrel and took one look back at his one-time friends. Half of him couldn't possibly hurt his friends and the other half wanted payback and to prove to Optimus that he wasn't a weakling.

Just then, the deserters and Sentinel's Autobots, minus Sentinel, Jetfire, Jetstorm and Blurr, screeched up.

"Autobots, let them have it!" Optimus screamed as they threw the makeshift grenades at the crowd. As the violence settled in, the latter half of Bulkhead's thoughts took over, as he threw and hit the Constructobots in a big explosion.

When the explosion cleared, most of the bots were in stasis-lock, with four exceptions. Bulkhead stepped forward and dragged the bodies of his friends away, while Optimus stepped up to Jazz.

"It seems you were good for something after all, Jazz" Optimus told him. "Thanks to this trap, I've a large group of soldiers to replenish my dreams of taking over Cybertron." Grimlock then handed Optimus a pair of stasis cuffs, which were used to trap Jazz. "Unfortunately, you won't live to tell the tale"

As Bulkhead dumped the Constructobots onto the ground, they came to.

"Wha- what's going on?" Mixmaster asked.

"Who are you guys?" Scrapper also asked.

Bulkhead threw his wrecking ball, knocking Dirt Boss back.

"Get away!" Mixmaster begged. "Don't hurt us, please!"

Bulkhead was disgusted. Now they sounded exactly like Scoop. "You should have thought of that before joining up with Sentinel!"

As the Constructobots ducked from the wrecking ball Scrap asked "Who is Sentinel?"

Bulkhead glared at them. Taking the hint, the Constructobots transformed and ran away.

Bulkhead then heard Optimus come up to him. "Where are the construction vehicles?" Optimus asked.

Bulkhead still had that glare on his face. Enraged, Optimus grabbed a pair of stasis cuffs with his grapplers and slammed them on Bulkhead's wrists before he could protest.

Optimus then turned to his troops and the battle field. "Grab the fallen Autobots and clear out!" He then turned to Grimlock and Fixit. "Leave this mess for the humans. We've got some work to do."

**Author's notes**

Well, not much to say here. I always found the end part of 'Rise of the Constructicons' a bit depressing and I think the episode changed Bulkhead, not sure for better or worse.

I tried to make that fixative memory erasing work, especially given the defections from Sentinel's side.

Fixit was originally a Micromaster released in 1989, transforming into an ambulance.

Next chapter or two will be Goldbug/Sari-centric.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

A millions things were going through Circuit Breaker's head at the moment. Just a day ago, they had taken a large group of Autobots down – Beachcomber, Powerglide, Warpath, Windcharger, Side Burn, Huffer, and her old friends, Jazz, Scoop and Crosshairs. She had also heard that the construction bots that nearly took her head off earlier had been allowed to escape – by Bulkhead of all bots.

'_Friend_'

That was the word C.B stumbled upon the most. She decided to reflect on her allies and friends.

Optimus was her commanding officer, and the one who had taken her into the Autobots into the ranks. But that didn't mean he wasn't infallible. Though she was opposed to some, if not most, of his decisions, C.B felt that she couldn't disobey Optimus, whatever she felt. Was it because of true loyalty, or fear of the Dinobots?

The Dinobots - Snarl and Sludge lived up to their names, Irontail just lumbered around in the _stegosaurus_ mode he had grown attached to, Swoop was unfailingly friendly to everyone, even the Decepticons, and Grimlock – once he was scary because he didn't think at all, now Grimlock was scary because he thought _everything_ through. Though she had noticed he was making a spectacular effort to stay in robot mode no matter what.

Bulkhead, he had seemed pretty shaken up after the events of yesterday. She couldn't get to ask him because he had been thrown into the spare pen along with the three traitors.

Jazz, despite his arrogance and sense of style, could be fun to be around. But that was the extent of C.B's emotions toward him. Jazz had always been pushing her around or pushing her away.

While Crosshairs' slacking and Scoop's screaming got annoying back then, C.B felt a sense of nostalgia when she saw them again. Scoop was almost innocent, like a child, while Crosshairs just wanted a good relaxing life, though nothing was ever relaxing during war.

Fixit – well, she never went to get repairs from him. She never had the credits and she wasn't going to suck up to a money-grabbing blowhard like him.

The bots being reprogrammed – she had learned a bit about them from her battles, but not much. Beachcomber was completely insane, Powerglide was a jet who hated flying, Warpath was Sentinel's Bulkhead except a tank, Windcharger was a patient interrogator, Side Burn had all the recklessness of Bumblebee and the callousness of Bulkhead, and Huffer was always trying to see the bright side of even the worst situations.

She also took a moment to reflet on the two she never saw anymore – Ratchet and Prowl.

The last time C.B saw either of them was after Wreck-Gar came online. Ratchet was probably the best medic she had even seen, though he didn't have much time for any of the others.

Neither did Prowl, for that matter. She remembered the blank, unforgiving stare on his face and the shackles on his wrists, which hadn't driven him insane, despite all expectations.

But the one that came to mind the most was a certain black and gold car – Goldbug. He was the Autobot C.B saw the most of, and she admitted that she had grown attached to him, though the idea presented seemed very strange.

C.B got up from her bed and snuck out into the hallway, being very careful not to alert any other Autobots. She found Goldbug slumped on a table in his room. C.B entered. "Hey, Goldbug"

Goldbug turned and looked up. "Oh. Hey, C.B" He responded, a bit sadder than usual.

"It's Bulkhead and the others, isn't it?" C.B asked

"Yeah, I guess," Goldbug replied. They both knew that Optimus was going to kill them all eventually. "They weren't the best of friends, but they could be there when you needed them"

C.B agreed. "Say, Goldbug, could you perhaps tell me more about you later?"

Goldbug was confused. No one had ever asked him about his past before.

"Alright, I suppose"

C.B smiled. "Thanks, Goldbug"

**Next morning**

The once mighty Sentinel Minor was crouched down by a pond, picking up rocks that looked like pebbles beside him and tossing them across or into the water. He hadn't known why the humans did it, but it passed the time regardless. Right now, he was glumly resigned to his fate. Ultra Magnus was on his way, and mercy was something he never gave to those who earned his scorn. As second-in-command of the Elite Guard, Sentinel had decided to claim responsibility for himself. He had cut Jetfire and Jetstorm loose, but Blurr decided to stick by him, not because of personal loyalty, but because of his higher allegiance to Longarm Prime.

'_Wait,_' he thought, '_higher allegiance?_' What was he thinking? He was starting to sound like Optimus. Then he realised something. War never really ends. He, Optimus and Elita had been too young to fight in the Great War, being mere protoforms when the end came. Here, on earth, Sentinel had come to view his soldiers more than just his comrades, but as drones to order around, and that mistake ultimately cost him his control over them. To put it short, Optimus and Sentinel were not so different after all.

As he was contemplating Blurr sped up to him and transformed to report his findings.

"Sentinel Minor," Blurr began, barrelling on, "While conducting my patrol, I intercepted an Earth transmission concerning some of our formers soldiers, the Constructobots. According to the report, they stole a large amount of motor oil before evading authorities with an extremely well-concealing smokescreen."

"So, what?" Sentinel asked. Those three were more trouble then they were worth.

"So, they have evaded us and may end up in the hands of either Optimus Prime or any possible Decepticons in the area," Blurr answered, "However, we may have a chance to take them on by force _if_ you recall your junior officers. And I suggest you do, for Ultra Magnus will be most displeased if they were to be lost."

Sentinel sighed, stood up and activated his comlink. "Jetfire Jetstorm, belay my last order. Get back here now!"

"_Go get orders blown from exhaust, Sentinel Minor, sir!_" came in Jetstorm.

"What? Not now!" Sentinel responded

"_Is true,_" Jetfire chimed in, "_Brother Jetstorm and I are having demolition derby_"

Sentinel was expecting something like this, but not now. Sentinel wearily followed Blurr as best he could back to the city.

**Sumdac Laboratories**

Soundwave was busy plugging a wire into Megatron's head, hoping to give him an extra burst of energy while he worked on a small prototype of a body. He had already stolen tironium for Megatron's new swords and found a store of destronium for rebuilding Megatron's old body, or building an entirely new one.

As the body activated, the servos flopped around uselessly before finally shutting down.

"I would have told you those servos wouldn't work, Soundwave" Megatron intoned.

"Sorry, Mega-man," Soundwave apologised, turning around. "I'm still just not used to hearing you talk."

'_And I am not used to substandard materials,_' Megatron thought.

"I'm doing as best I can, man, But AllSpark fragments are hard to come by, and we only got a small sample of that destronium stuff you wanted."

"Unacceptable!" Megatron yelled in a rage, causing Soundwave to back away.

"Couldn't we just ask the other Decepticons to lend a hand?" Soundwave asked.

"No!" Megatron responded, calming down a bit. "I… do not wish them to see me in this weakened state - a few especially."

"You know something, Megatron?" Soundwave asked. "Sometimes, you just gotta let go of your pride and accept help from others, you know what I'm saying?"

Megatron contemplated. He knew Soundwave was right. He was just so frustrated at recent events - watching all the Autobots' atrocities on screen, and not being able to do a thing. Before he could continue thinking, a news broadcast came in on the TV screen.

"Chaos erupted downtown when two giant robots and one small robot wreaked havoc at 'Marumba Bros Auto Supply'." As the reporter gave his findings, the screen showed Scrapper and Mixmaster guzzling down oil while Dirt Boss was trying to calm the situation. "The robots made off with one hundred cases of motor oil, before evading police with what appeared to be a smokescreen" On the last word, the screen went black.

"Hmm, maybe they could help," Soundwave suggested.

"Perhaps. Find them and try to get them to help us, Soundwave" Megatron ordered.

"On the case, ace," said Soundwave before transforming and rolling out. As he was making his way out, a six pack of oil barrels made in the labs appeared before Soundwave.

"This should lure them out," called Megatron's voice.

**Detroit forest**

Goldbug and C.B had decided to seek some solitude while they talked about recent events. Along the way, Goldbug suffered a small oil leak, which leaked all the way into the forest until C.B fixed it with her key.

Then, finally, they sat down to talk. "So, what was life like for you before you came to Earth?" C.B asked.

"Nothing cushy, that's for sure," Goldbug responded. "I was once called Bumblebee, and I made a small living stealing on the streets of Iacon. Then one day, I was caught and literally tossed into boot camp. There I met Wasp, Ironhide, Longarm, Scoop, Crosshairs and Bulkhead. WE were all under the command of Sentinel Minor."

C.B was interested. "I don't know much about the first three."

"Ironhide sorta looks like Ratchet, except he's black and is able to coat himself and make himself invulnerable to all weapons damage," Goldbug explained, "Longarm is now Longarm Prime, head of Cybertron Intel."

"And Wasp?"

Goldbug stopped at Wasp. Over the conflict, he had had time to think about what he had done over his life, and begun to regret a lot of it.

"Well, Wasp was a nice bot, I guess. But he was a bit irked with Bulkhead. One night, while I was clearing out oil barrels, I heard someone speaking in an alleyway."

'_This could be interesting,_' C.B thought, intent on listening to every detail.

"Well, I peeked inside, and I swear I heard Megatron himself talking. He said something about the Decepticons having a double agent on Cybertron!" Goldbug continued. "When I tried to stick him up, he was gone. Then I turned around and saw Wasp in the area. It was then I thought, _thought_, he might be the spy."

"So, I got to try and know Wasp, trying to find anything that might suggest a spy. Then, during a training session, something went wrong. We were meant to be tested against simulated ammo, but then guns were on live ammo!"

"I got to cover behind some rubble with Scoop, who was wailing like a protoform, and Crosshairs. Just then, Bulkhead came ploughing through the rubble and turrets. He took out the main one with his wrecking ball, but the building fell on top of Sentinel. We got out of there okay, though."

"What does that have to do with the spy?" C.B asked.

"I'm getting to that! So, shortly after, Longarm comes up to me and says there's going to be a surprise locker inspection. We see Wasp come through the entrance, so I decided to distract him and grab his key. The ploy worked, and I found, to my surprise, a Decepticon communicator."

"Once we got the evidence to Sentinel, Wasp was taken away and sent to the stockade. That look on his face…"

Goldbug stopped. He had grown guilty about sending a fellow bot to the stockade. And he thought C.B might understand.

"Then Sentinel start decides to pick out who was responsible for toppling that building on his head. Scoop caved in and ratted me and Bulkhead out. Just then, our Elite Guard dreams were over and we were sent to work on Ratchet's ship. Scoop and Crosshairs went sent with us because Sentinel had gotten sick of them, I guess. Then, we got Boss-Bot as commander, found Prowl on an asteroid, found the AllSpark, got chased by Decepticons, crashed here, and fifty stellar cycles later, here I am."

C.B was speechless. She knew Goldbug had done some bad things in his life, but this was the first time she had heard his full history.

A short distance away, on the edges of town, Dirt Boss was leading Mixmaster and a dizzy Scrapper along.

"About time we ditched the cops, huh Mix?" Scrapper asked, throwing away an oil can.

Mixmaster then stopped. "Yo, Scrap, Dirt Boss," he said, leaning down to look at the substance on the ground. "Oil!" he gasped.

He scooped up a sample and licked it off his finger. "Ain't the sweetest grade I've had, but it's good enough."

"It seems," Dirt Boss said, tasting it too "It also seems that there's a track we must follow"

Scrapper looked a bit uneasy. "I got a bad feeling about this"

"We'll stick together, Scrapper," Dirt Boss assured him. "We ought to be a match for one opponent if it turns out to be a trap."

With that, the Constructobots rolled out, following the trail of oil.

Back in the forest, Goldbug was still talking with C.B.

"I don't know what to do, Sari," Goldbug said. "I want to make up for the things I've done, but I don't know how to do it, or if I can ever atone."

C.B thought for a minute, then turned to Goldbug. "I say we forget Optimus and the others and do things our way."

"Leave Optimus?" Goldbug asked.

"Sure, why not? We haven't got much to lose" C.B said, tearing off her Autobot emblem.

Goldbug smiled weakly, and then reluctantly tore off his own insignia.

Then, they heard a rumbling behind them. Turning and powering up their weapons, they saw the Constructobots transform, and follow the last trail of oil.

"Oh no," said Mixmaster, vaguely recognising the two. "Look, we don't mean any trouble. We'll just go."

"Wait!" Sari said. "We don't want to hurt you either."

The two taller Constructobots looked at each other uneasily, remembering their narrow escape from Bulkhead. But Dirt Boss stood firm and shot out a blue light from his forehead, scanning the two Autobots. Sari jumped back slightly from the shock.

"They're telling the truth. These two have just made a decision to leave their current faction" Dirt Boss assessed.

"How do you know?" Goldbug asked.

"As a psychiatrist I can read minds using my anestho-shells" Dirt Boss explained.

Then, another shape came up towards them, this time it was Soundwave, who Sari and Goldbug recognised.

"Soundwave!" Sari exclaimed.

"Hey, little girl. I don't mean any harm" Soundwave said, holding the oil Megatron gave him.

Goldbug walked up to him. "Listen, Soundwave, sorry for earlier. I see you got a new body. That's cool."

"I remember you, little dude, and I think we can work something out." Soundwave said. "Just come with me."

As Goldbug transformed and picked up Sari, Soundwave looked at the Constructobots. "Aren't you coming. I've been looking for you guys too"

"I guess there's no harm" said Scrapper.

"I hope this isn't a trap," said Mixmaster, following Dirt Boss.

"Nothing to worry about, dudes. We Decepticons treat our guests much better, better manners, better friends," He held up a barrel, "Better oil"

Mix and Scrap jumped at the word 'oil' and followed, taking a barrel each from Soundwave.

**Sumdac Laboratories**

Megatron saw as the loading platform carried down his guests, Soundwave, the Constructobots and… two Autobots?

As they rolled up and transformed, Scrapper and Mixmaster were still licking the oil off their lips.

"Wow!" Mix said. "The Autobots oil tastes like water compared to this stuff."

"It's my own private blend," Megatron said, with a hint of pride in his voice.

At that, the guests turned their shocked attention to the severed head of Megatron.

"That… that can't be! Can it?" Goldbug asked.

"Yes, it is I, Megatron"

"So, you're the one who wanted us," Dirt Boss said.

"Yes, I need your help," Megatron explained. "I need to get back to Starscream and the other Decepticons, but I am without a body"

"No problem" said Sari. "I'll just fix you up with my…" She reached for her key, then realised it wasn't around her neck.

"Oh, no, I lost my key!"

Goldbug then transformed.

"Where are you going?" Megatron asked.

"To find the key, and maybe draw attention away from this place" Godlbug responded.

"Wait, Goldbug!" Sari called. But by the time she called, Goldbug was already on his way.

"I hope the little guy knows what he's doing," Scrap said.

**Late that night**

Waspinator was buzzing over the skies of Detroit. He was feeling lonely ever since the death of Blackarachnia on Dinobot Island. All that kept him moving was his imminent revenge on Bumble-bot. He, Lugnut and Sunstorm had secretly organised an attack on their headquarters when the time was free.

He noticed large amounts of Autobot movement on the ground.

"Autobots moving to trees. Maybe Bumble-bot with them"

Waspinator buzzed down. Maybe he wouldn't have to wait as long as he had hoped.

Goldbug was utterly exhausted and low on fuel. All the day he had been leading the Autobots on a wild goose chase throughout the city. As he transformed, he leaned down and found something small and shiny. He had finally found Sari's key.

Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain in his back, knocking him into a tree and dropping the key.

As he reached for it, his hand was stepped on by the giant foot of Warpath, who was tired and very, very angry. He was flanked by Beachcomber and Side Burn.

"Now you're going to spend the rest of your life as junkyard scrap – BAM!" Warpath bellowed.

Goldbug drew his stingers. "Bring it on"

Then something buzzed down between them, transformed and landed.

"Bumble-bot mine! Bumble-bot must die!"

Waspinator fired his stingers at the smaller Autobots, distracting them while Goldbug tried to take on Warpath.

Goldbug charged, stabbing his stingers at Warpath, who stepped back, grabbing Goldbug by the leg.

Goldbug, undeterred, shot in Warpath's cannon.

"You want a piece of me?! You want a piece?!" Godlbug yelled.

"No!" Warpath yelled, crushing his leg. "I want… three pieces!"

Warpath pulled and twisted as Goldbug's legs were torn from their sockets.

Hearing Goldbug's pained screams, Waspinator turned and went for Warpath, not wanted to be robbed of his revenge.

Sensing Waspinator's movement, Warpath turned and blocked the stinger shots with Goldbug's torso, severely injuring him further.

"Let's put a hole in your gut- BOOM!"

Warpath charged up his chest cannon when it was suddenly sealed up with a glob of cement, causing it to blow up at the end.

The Autobots and Waspinator turned to see Soundwave, Sari and the Constructobots.

"It's those slagging Constructobots!" Side Burn called out. "I knew we couldn't trust them!"

Scrapper charged towards him, brandishing his drill. "It's Constructi_cons_ now! For Megatron!"

Side Burn jumped out of the way and prepared to blast Scrap in the head, but something hit his head, causing him to fall down. Scrapper knew it was one of Dirt Boss's many anestho-shells and was thankful for the rescue.

Beachcomber fired wildly around, _insanely_ happy that he could fight so many enemies. Sari shot him in the shoulders with her hand blasters while Soundwave disabled him with an electrostatic blast.

Warpath knocked Waspinator into a tree, tossed Goldbug aside and grabbed the key.

"At least this won't be a total waste." He grumbled, transforming and carrying off his companions.

Sari turned and gasped when she saw Goldbug's mutilated body. He legs were torn off at the torso and he was suffering from fuel depletion and several blaster shots.

The crowd surrounded Godlbug while Waspinator briefly stirred.

"Isn't there something you can do?" Sari asked Dirt Boss desperately.

"He's too far gone, even for stasis lock," Dirt Boss said sadly.

Goldbug groaned and weakly opened his optics. He saw Sari, Soundwave and Constructicons around him, and had a nagging suspicious that Waspinator was also nearby.

"S-S-Sari?" He asked.

"Yes, Goldbug, it's me," Sari assured him. "You're, you're…"

"That bad, huh?" Goldbug asked, thinking about his damage. "Always was ugly. Now the outside shows."

"No, that's not true." Sari said. "You're a good bot, you brought us time."

Goldbug smiled again. "If Waspinator's nearby, tell him I'm sorry for everything I did, and that I hope he comes out of this alright."

Waspinator, hearing this from the sidelines, was touched. "Wasp forgive Bumble-bot" He spoke quietly.

Goldbug then turned to Sari. "S-Sari? I… I love…" Before he could finish, Goldbug slumped back…

His optics went dim…

His body turned a deathly shade of grey…

And his ember chamber became empty.

Sari fell onto Goldbug's chest and began crying uncontrollably.

"I love you too, Goldbug" she whispered.

At this sight, Mixmaster and Scrapper removed their hard hats and held them to their chest in reverence for the fallen bot.

"Game over, man, game over," Soundwave said with sadness in his voice, having witnessed his first, but not his last, death.

As the crowd mourned, Waspinator, shedding a tear, transformed to wasp mode, flew into the sky, and dropped a specially tuned beacon onto a target, which Soundwave picked up.

"Hey, guys, I'm picking up something" Soundwave said. "I'm gonna check it out"

Soundwave put his hand on Dirt Boss. "Keep my friend comforted."

"I'll try, Soundwave, but there are some things even we Constructicons can't fix."

Soundwave took Mix and Scrap to follow the beacon. When they arrived, they began digging through the snow until Scrapper heard a clunk.

"I hit something!" He called, digging to find a familiar red symbol on a familiar white body.

"Man, oh man." Soundwave said. "I think we may have found Megatron's old body."

**Eastern Detroit**

Waspinator flew over the buildings making his way back to base when he heard two familiar voices over his comlink.

"_Waspinator, everything's prepared,_" said Sunstorm.

"What say you?" Lugnut asked "_Are you ready to remedy the mistake of the Autobots?_"

Waspinator thought for a while then responded with the only answer he could, now that Bumble-bot was gone.

"No."

The silence on the comlink for a while, then…

"_WHAT?!_" Sunstorm screamed

"_You would refuse to involve yourself in a war that threatens our very existence?!_" Lugnut asked outraged.

"I said no!" Waspinator called again. "War involve you, giant ugly Cyclops-bot! War not involve Waspinator, not anymore!"

All this yelling attracted the attention of a pair of jets.

"Waspinator sick of being fugitive! Sick of being Decepticon! Waspinator especially sick of being treated like scrap all the time! So, Waspinator quits! As of now" Waspinator ranted.

The twin jets lined up for a rear attack…

"Which means Jet-bot and bomber-bot can just pucker their mandibles and plant big, wet, juicy one right here on Waspinator's…"

The target assumed a more uptight, arrogant position…

"… big… fat… stripy…!"

Jetfire fired a shot which sent the toasted bug crashing to the ground.

"Waspinator has plans…!"

**Author's notes**

Well, if you haven't guessed already, I don't like writing character deaths. But, I wanted a way for Goldbug to go out fighting to protect the people he cared about, not just for a cause.

Sorry, and good night, everybody. Things will be wrapping up in the next three chapters. Sorry if the ending seemed a bit rushed.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

On the noiseless moon, Blaster was hard at work finishing a launcher he had come up with. He hoped to launch the AllSpark, and maybe himself, back to Earth and gain considerable prestige for his achievements.

When the last panel was put in place, Blaster went to the rear engine port.

"**It could be unstable,**" he mused over his comlink, the only way to speak in space. "**I should send the AllSpark first, as a test subject. Too bad there aren't any Autotroopers around.**"

Blaster lifted up the AllSpark in its special casing, placed it into the front engine port and went to the control panel.

After pushing a few buttons, the engines began to whir up. As the engines grew louder, they began to shake. Blaster prayed that something wouldn't go wrong.

The engines finally launched, sending the AllSpark away from the moon towards the Earth. As Blaster ran towards the launcher, the engine then exploded with a KABOOM!

Pieces of debris were sent flying everywhere and Blaster was sent flying into the hull of the _Nemesis_, leaving a large body shaped dent in it.

Blaster knew he was in for it now. There was no indication that the AllSpark would survive re-entry, and, if it didn't, Blaster thought he would be universally loathed by Cybertronians alike. All he could do was further wait on the moon in total silence, waiting for someone to come pick him up.

**Earth**

The winter winds were blowing harder than they had been in ages. Because of this, Starscream had called off all patrols. But this would not sway Lugnut, or any of his fellow Decepticons.

Blitzwing was wandering down a corridor of the Decepticon's old mountain base when he heard strange mutterings coming from Sunstorm's quarters.

"It's too risky," he heard a Starscream say. "The winds are too strong, and our weapons might backfire. The weather itself might be the perfect cover for an ambush."

"Yeah!" said another Starscream "_Our_ ambush!"

'Ambush?' Blitzwing thought. He hadn't heard anything about any attacks on the Autobots. Blitzwing decided to investigate, and peeked into the room.

"We must call this off. Without Waspinator, we're too low on numbers." Ramjet pleaded.

"When has that stopped us before, Ramjet?" Sunstorm asked.

Lugnut finally stood up. "Never. That's when. We don't need orders to destroy the Autobots. The Autobots will have called off their forces too, funnelling them into their base, where we will destroy them, without taking orders from that idiot Starscream"

Blitzwing switched faces and jumped out into the room.

"**You're disobeying orders, all of you!**" He yelled.

Sunstorm was about to shoot, but Ramjet stopped him. Lugnut stepped forward and grabbed Blitzwing in an arm lock.

"I will not harm you, Blitzwing, but you'll ruin our attack if you leave here." He told Blitzwing.

Lugnut turned to the two Seekers.

"Let us go!" Lugnut yelled.

Sunstorm transformed to vehicle mode with Lugnut and a reluctant Ramjet following behind. They shot up into the ceiling until a large hole appeared in the roof, blowing in the snow and wind.

**Autobot HQ**

Optimus was sitting in a chair, using the end of his axe ad a make-shift gavel.

"Let the trail commence," he announced to all present – Grimlock, Fixit, Beachcomber, Powerglide, Warpath, Windcharger, Side Burn and Huffer.

The Dinobots brought in the prisoners – Jazz, Scoop, Crosshairs and Bulkhead.

In addition to stasis cuffs, Jazz had also been fitted with a neural disruptor, which kept him from focusing enough to even stay conscious, let alone use processor-over-matter to escape.

"Swoop will speak for the defense," Optimus dictated. Swoop seemed excited at the prospect.

Swoop transformed and began with a squawk, "Him Jazz, Him Scoop and Him Crosshairs leave Optimus Prime for big chin-bot, while him Bulkhead let enemies escape. Optimus Prime angry; think all robots traitors. Want to slag bad robots."

Optimus nodded as the information was relayed while the prisoners looked ever more despondent.

"Me Swoop down with that," Swoop concluded. "Defense at rest"

"Ah, brilliant as always, yes," Optimus said, turning to his troops.

"Autobots, Dinobots, your verdict?"

After contemplating for three seconds, the Autobots all drew their various tools and weapons, aiming them at the prisoners.

Optimus glared icily at his former soldiers. "Anything to say before sentence is carried out?"

Bulkhead tried to speak, but was muffled by his mouth clamp, which Optimus waved off anyway.

"That's what they all say." He was about to continue when Scoop and Crosshairs stopped him.

"I know we did you wrong, boss!" Scoop pleaded. "Give me another chance! I swear, I'll make it up to you!"

"Me too!" Crosshairs added.

"Very well," Optimus said, staying his hand for a time. "Tell me when Ultra Magnus said he'd be arriving on the planet."

"We don't know," answered Crosshairs. "But Sentinel or that Blurr guy might. Why not ask them instead of wasting our last few cycles?"

"Yes, yes!" Scoop added. "And we can help you find him!"

Optimus chuckled. "I applaud your good intentions…" His expression then turned dark and serious. "… but we are through being lenient with traitors!"

As the blasters and melee weapons of the assembled Autobots drew ever closer to the prisoners, their salvation came in an unexpected form.

'_Priority alert! Priority alert!_' The resident computer announced.

"Hold your weapons!" Optimus ordered.

"But we already holding weapons-" Irontail said, confused, as Grimlock whacked him on the head.

"He means to not harm the prisoners, fool," Grimlock said, chastising Irontail.

Optimus turned to a computer screen.

"_Several energy signatures detected._" The computer told him.

**Forest**

As the Lugnut, Ramjet and Sunstorm flew up into the sky, Blitzwing struggled in Lugnut's grasp.

"**Let go, you deranged Decepticon!**" Blitzwing ordered.

"No!" Lugnut said. "This war must end our way or not at all!"

Blitzwing switched faces.

"_Aha! And they say I'm the crazy one!_" He said before head butting Lugnut, who head butted him back, sending Blitzwing plummeting towards the trees near Sumdac Laboratories.

Ramjet turned around and, despite the pleas of his comrades, landed near the Blitzwing sized crater.

"**What in spark's gotten into you?**" Blitzwing asked, grabbing Ramjet by the shoulders.

"I apologise, Blitzwing!" Ramjet pleaded. "We just wanted a quick end to the conflict here on Earth."

"**Maybe I should give you a quick end – with my fists!**" Blitzwing snarled.

Then, a loud blast came over their audio receptors, bringing the two to their knees.

"Whoa, bad vibes, dudes!" Soundwave said as he and Sari arrived.

"Lighten up, Decepticons," Sari said solemnly. "We have enough problems without fighting among ourselves"

"You're Decepticons?" Blitzwing asked, remembering Sari from their first conflict on Dinobot Island.

"Yeah, and there are more of us," answered Sari. She then looked up to see Starscream, Thundercracker and Slipstream fly down, transform and land, with Wreck-Gar, Swindle, Masterson and Angry Archer coming in on the ground.

"Blitzwing, what's going on, and who is this?" Starscream asked, referring to Soundwave.

Ramjet answered for him. "We've found other Decepticons, Starscream. But it was rather unexpected."

Blitzwing barged in. "**Yes, he, Sunstorm and Lugnut were blasting off to attack the Autobot base!**"

Starscream turned to Ramjet. "I'm disappointed in you, Ramjet," and then he turned to Soundwave and Sari. "But this is not the time for hostilities, em…"

"I'm Soundwave, man" Soundwave said, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Sari, Sari Sumdac" Sari answered next.

"I don't suppose you have a leader I could speak to?" Starscream asked.

"Of course," said Soundwave. "He's been wanted to see you for quite a while."

"What about Lugnut and Sunstorm?" Masterson asked. "We'll need to bring them back under control"

Starscream turned. "Blitzwing, Ramjet, you two follow them and bring them back. Meanwhile, we will all meet with this other Decepticon."

Blitzwing and Ramjet transformed, following their orders, but they were almost too late…

**Autobot HQ**

"_Impact with base in 4 cycles_" the computer reported to Optimus with several Autobots crowded around him.

"Battle stations!" he barked. The Autobots dispersed, with Windcharger stopped by the prisoners.

"What about the prisoners, sir?" Windcharger asked.

"I've decided to spare them… for now" Optimus answered, releasing the stasis cuffs on Crosshairs and Scoop.

"Th-thanks, boss!" Scoop cried. "You won't be sorry!"

"Yes," Optimus said, brushing him off. "Even if I am, you will be sorrier. Now, get to your posts!"

The three bots obeyed, leaving Bulkhead and Jazz alone, disarmed and helpless.

Optimus turned to the screen and magnified the image, showing Lugnut and Sunstorm in vehicle mode.

"We're almost there," Sunstorm said with anticipation.

"Whatever would we do without a brilliant individual like you?" Lugnut replied sarcastically.

Then Lugnut's comlink chimed in.

"_Lugnut, come in. This is Blitzwing. Turn away from your current path now. That's an order._"

In response, Lugnut ignored him and blocked his comlink.

"_Impact with base in 1.4 cycles,_" the computer reported as the bases shields activated.

"All guns, open fire!" Optimus ordered.

Outside the shields, the autoguns, made from scrapped police drones, began firing into the air.

At the sight of the guns, Sunstorm activated his shields, purposely getting shot, in order to protect Lugnut and to charge up for his special attack.

Grimlock observed on the view screen before turning to Optimus. "Our fire is having no effect," he reported. What he didn't see was Sunstorm releasing that stored energy and shooting at the base.

All over the base, the lights began to lficker and the computer screens began to spark and shatter.

"_High radiation readings detected. All primary circuits affected. Sentinel shield failing,_" the computer reported before falling silent forever.

"No!" Optimus cried at the news of the shields. "Not now!"

But outside, the turrets shut down, along with the shields. Upon seeing this, Lugnut transformed to robot mode and began charging up his explosive punch.

"Commander, the Decepticons will destroy the base!" Side Burn reported despairingly.

"Boss, what do we do? What do we do?" Scoop screamed in terror.

Optimus grimaced, considering the possibilities, until he came to the only logical one.

"Abandon base."

All the Autobots were shocked, they had had to evacuated a base once before, now they would have to leave another one.

Optimus activated his jetpack, shot off into the air, blasting a hole in the window with Powerglide and Swoop following him. The ground-based Autobots all scrambled to get out the door.

Like a meteorite, Lugnut launched towards the Autobot base and landed…

KABOOM!!!

Over in the suburbs, Sentinel, Blurr and the twins noticed the explosion.

"What the slag was that?" Sentinel asked.

"Looks like big base go 'boom'!" Jetfire said, celebrating, high-fiving his brother.

"Let's move out!" Sentinel ordered as they all transformed.

**Sumdac Laboratories**

The Constructicons were working on repairing Megatron's mutilated body.

"It's lucky we found your body in the woods before that storm hit" Mixmaster said.

"Yeah," Scrapper continued, "there's no telling what damage those conditions could have caused."

Dirt boss analysed it with his shells. "This circuitry has survived remarkably well, considering how long it was exposed to the elements" he said, impressed.

As they were working, the elevator opened up to reveal Soundwave and the others appearing.

"Constructicons, we have guests," Megatron informed them. The three bots turned their attention to the newcomers.

"I warn you, this could be a bit of a shock when you find out who he is" Sari was explaining.

"I'm sure t'will be nothing when… " Angry Archer said, before seeing Megatron's head and gasping, along with everyone else.

"Starscream?" Megatron asked.

Starscream could hardly move. "Megatron? Alive?"

He couldn't believe it. His beloved lord was alive and well all these years.

Starscream fell to the ground. "Forgive me, Lord Megatron! I'm not worthy!"

"There's nothing to forgive, Starscream," Megatron assured him.

"I would have come sooner, but, naturally, we all assumed you perished at the hands of the Autobot scum. What a great joy to discover you did not!"

Everyone else was speechless, until Swindle broke the silence.

"Megatron, you old war-monger!" Swindle greeted. "How's my number one customer?"

"How do you think he feels right now?" Slipstream asked.

"I assure you, things are going fine" Megatron said. "As soon as my body is repaired, I will be able to lead you all again."

Sari was a bit uneasy. "It could be quicker if we had my key. But I think the Autobots took it."

"It's just as well we sent Blitzwing and Ramjet then," Thundercracker said.

Megatron looked around, noticing a few new faces, and some old ones not present. "Where are Blackarachnia and Lugnut?"

"We lost Blackarachnia in a raid not too long ago," Slipstream said with compassion in her voice.

"And Lugnut has set out with Sunstorm to destroy the Autobots," Skywarp continued.

Sari gasped. "But, they could destroy the key!"

Starscream called up Blitzwing. "Blitzwing, change of plans! Find the AllSpark key!"

"_Why? Lugnut could still be dangerous?_"

"We need the key to bring back Megatron!"

"_What are you talking about? Megatron is-_"

"I'll explain later. For now, get that key!"

**Autobot territory**

From underneath a chunk of rubble, Optimus emerged, yelling to the heavens.

The other Autobots emerged, observing the wreck that was their base and home.

In the middle of the crater stood Lugnut and Sunstorm, the latter of whom was exhausted from the amount of energy he used.

"Well, we got them now," said Sunstorm.

The two Decepticons surveyed the Autobots lined up in front of them. Beachcomber and Windcharger were nowhere to be seen, neither were Jazz and Bulkhead. They were only picking up two faint life signs close to them, and they didn't know who had survived.

Just then, Sunstorm noticed a small glint under some rubble. He picked it up – the AllSpark key.

"At last, it is where it belongs - in Decepticon hands." Lugnut said.

Just then, Blitzwing and Ramjet landed, transforming.

"**The key, Lugnut,**" Blitzwing asked, his hand stretched out. "**Don't make me use excessive force.**"

Sunstorm turned his lasers on Blitzwing. "You're just jealous that you didn't get a shot of the action!"

"There's no guarantee that this would have worked." Blitzwing tried to explain. "Just like when the Autobots destroyed Blackarachnia"

At this, Lugnut got angry. "I will not let the Autobots take credit for _my_ work!"

At this Sunstorm stopped, confused. "You mean…?" he asked.

"Of course! I killed that wretch!" Lugnut confessed.

Sunstorm and Ramjet shot Lugnut in the hip and arm, almost bringing him down. As an extra measure, Blitzwing completely froze Lugnut.

"Let's go. That ice will not hold him for long, and the others are waiting for us." Blitzwing told the others.

"But, what about the Autobots?" Sunstorm asked, turning around to see… they were gone!

"I think they've had enough." Ramjet said.

The three jets transformed and took off from the crater.

**Sumdac Laboratories**

The jets transformed to find the Decepticons, except Masterson and Sari had created a perimeter around the labs.

"Starscream, we have the key. Now what's this slag about Megatron?" Blitzwing asked.

"Just take the elevator and get the key to Masterson," Starscream said.

Blitzwing obeyed, leaving Ramjet and Sunstorm to Starscream.

"Whatever punishment I've earned, I deserve," Sunstorm said to his template.

Before Starscream could answer, Sentinel, the twins and Blurr came up.

"Decepticons, by Autobot statute number 8739B, you are under arrest for crimes against Ultra Magnus and the Autobot Imperium" Blurr announced, drawing his saw blade.

Dirt Boss shot at Blurr, who dodged his anestho-shells and began attacking him. Mix and Scrap tried to assist, but ended up hitting each other instead.

While the battle begun, Blitzwing went down the elevator and found Masterson and Sari with a large head.

"Blitzwing, I'm glad to see you're safe." Megatron said at the sight of one of his lieutenants.

"So Starscream didn't have voices in his head," Blitzwing pondered, changing faces. "_He had a head in his head!_"

Annoyed, Sari, flew up, grabbed the key, and inserted it into the top of Megatron's head.

"Welcome back to the land of moving parts, Megatron," Masterson said.

As the head became covered with intricate blue patterns, Megatron's body glowed. Pieces of metal, wires and glass came together and merged dramatically to create a new form as Sari and Masterson looked on in amazement.

Outside, the battle was continuing, when a bright light came shining up into the sky. All the robots stopped fighting to look at it, as a strange figure crashed out from the ground.

As the smoke cleared, Sentinel began to recognise it. "The Imperium is doomed," he muttered to himself.

The smoke finally cleared to reveal, with a fusion cannon on the right arm, swords in both hands, and a look of charismatic determination on his face, Megatron!

**Author's notes**

Cliff-hanger!


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

The combatants could only stare dumbfounded as Megatron slowly landed, while at the same time, firing his fusion cannon, blowing Sentinel and his troops out of the area.

"Megatron? How do you feel now?" Swindle asked.

Megatron stepped forward in his new body, draped in a white and blue colour scheme.

"In a word," he answered. "Prime"

"But not for long, no!" came a voice from above. The Decepticons looked up to see Optimus, Swoop and Powerglide.

"This is only a temporary delay," Optimus said, his voice box shaking at the sight of Megatron. "Open fire!"

He and his troops shot at Megatron, who deflected the blasts with his tironium swords.

As Optimus kept firing he noticed Sari and Masterson come up from the hole.

"You!" Optimus yelled as he landed right in front of Sari, flying right past the Decepticons.

"Well, what did you think, you imposter?" Sari asked, showing no reverence for her former leader. "That I would always stand by while you harmed my home?"

Optimus raised his axe. "There and now, Circuit Breaker, there will be no more betrayals!"

At this, Sari shot with her hand blasters. "My name is Sari Sumdac!"

Optimus deflected the blasts, making a grab for the key. Sari dodged his hands, until the key was finally knocked out of her hands and into Optimus'.

"You two, rendezvous with the others!" Optimus ordered the two fliers, engaged in battle with Skywarp and Thundercracker.

As they escaped, Optimus turned around, the key wrapped onto his finger. "I'll take care of Megatron – for real, this time"

Megatron fired his fusion cannon, Optimus dodging each blow with help from his jetpack.

"How long has it been since you came back, Megatron?" He asked, mockingly. "Two cycles, tops? I had hoped that you were gone for good, but then I learned life's full of disappointments," he went on, charging up the key in his hand, "As you will soon learn when I rob you of life again!"

Just as Optimus was about to hit Megatron, Starscream jumped in front of his leader, screaming as the key pierced his chest and spark.

The Seekers fell to their knees. Being clones, they could feel the pain of their siblings and template through their sparks.

As Megatron stood, shocked, he heard Starscream yell something out.

"Make… my… sacrifice… matter… my king!" Starscream yelled, before going limp…

Optimus dropped the body to the ground, contemptuously kicking it, earning him a slash from Megatron's sword.

"No! Starscream!" Megatron called his second-in-command and closest friend's name in despair, as Starscream's body slowly turned grey as he joined the Well of All Sparks.

Optimus groaned in contempt, clutching his side, sparking and dripping with oil from the open wound.

"I told you… life's full of disappointments" Optimus said, smirking sadistically.

Optimus launched up into the sky, just avoiding Wreck-Gar.

"Follow me if you dare!" Optimus called out.

"I am Wreck-Gar!" Wreck-Gar said. "I dare to be stupid!"

None of the other said anything, as they were examining the body of their beloved comrade. Slipstream and Thundercracker were crying their optics out while being comforted by Skywarp and Ramjet respectively. Sunstorm mulled over the mistakes of his past, his recklessness, and his disrespect for his template. He silently vowed that Optimus would pay.

After silently mourning, Megatron stood up. For the first time in fifty stellar cycles, he would have to rally and lead his troops.

"There will be time to bury the dead later," he assured his soldiers, "but for now, we must end the suffering this planet has gone through."

"Soundwave, take Wreck-Gar, Swindle, the Constructicons and the two humans to the docked Elite Guard ship," Megatron ordered. "See if you can get it up and running."

Megatron turned to the others. "The rest of you, with me. We will follow Optimus Prime where to where he has fled." Megatron raised his fist. "Decepticons, transform and rise up!"

Blitzwing, the seekers and Sari took to the air, followed by Megatron in his impressive new helicopter mode.

**Former Autobot territory**

After being blown away by Megatron, Sentinel and his soldiers were digging away at the rubble of Optimus' old base.

"Keep digging!" Sentinel ordered. "There's bound to be something, or someone, still around." So far they had only found the barely recognisable carcasses of Beachcomber and Windcharger. Sentinel couldn't say he would miss either of them.

Then they stumbled across Jazz, still in stasis cuffs. Jetfire and Jetstorm treated him with caution, then the cuffs flew off and Jazz delivered an uppercut to their chins.

"I still got the touch, huh, S.M?" Jazz asked.

Sentinel was glad to see a fairly reliable comrade online, but then noticed a large shape behind him.

Jazz noticed it before the figure charged, and jumped out of Bulkhead's way. Bulkhead, having lost most everything that mattered to him, ignored the others, transformed and escaped.

"Get back here, Autobot traitor!" Blurr yelled, driving after him.

Before Sentinel could respond, he noticed another large shape fly over their heads. It looked like a human bomber aircraft, but green and silver instead.

Meanwhile, on the highway, Soundwave, Swindle, Wreck-Gar and the Constructions were travelling towards the landing site of the Steelhaven, with Masterson inside Soundwave, Angry Archer inside Swindle and Dirt Boss riding within Wreck-Gar's trash bin.

Behind them, crashing through the traffic came Bulkhead, with Blurr hot on his trail. Every time Bulkhead tried to ram him, Blurr just sped out of the way. Dirt Boss peeked out and shot an anestho-shell at Blurr.

When the shell hit, Blurr was slowed down. This allowed Bulkhead to smash into him and push him up against the wall. Sparks flying and paint being scratched off, Blurr was close to being crushed when he crashed head on into a bridge support, knocking him offline, possibly for good.

Now that Blurr was down, Bulkhead transformed and turned his attention to his old 'friends'. Mix and Scrap transformed and turned to face him.

Bulkhead activated his wrecking-ball, swinging it around and smashing anything in his path as he charged forward with hate in his ember.

"This is art! THIS is war. THIS! IS! -"

Before he could finish, Mixmaster doused the wrecking ball and a portion of his chest with a good dose of acid. As Bulkhead painfully slowed down, Scrapper stabbed him in the chest with his drill.

With a final look of despair on his face, Bulkhead fell down, inert.

Scrapper retracted his drill. "Sorry, Bulky," he said.

"Yeah," Mixmaster added. "I wish things coulda turned out better"

The two bots transformed and followed the others, taking a last glance at their old friend.

**Dinobot Island**

Since the encounter with Meltdown, Optimus and Grimlock had been working on turning the island into a fortress. The Autobot soldiers were lined up behind the walls of metal, with Grimlock himself commanding a large cannon, all salvaged from the old Autobot ship.

Optimus was waiting on the beach. He was hoping the Decepticons would be foolish enough to attack. This time, they would not escape. He had also detected the AllSpark on the island, but didn't know where. And he wouldn't tell his soldiers anyway.

"_Grimlock to Optimus Prime, we detect a large squadron of Decepticon fliers approaching. Should I Grimlock fire the cannon?_" Grimlock asked over the comlink.

Optimus scanned the fliers. It was him and twelve other Autobots against eight Decepticons, including Megatron. The odds seemed good.

"Fire," Optimus ordered.

As the Decepticons approached, they just barely dodged a large laser blast. Sari was knocked away, leaving Slipstream to catch her.

"You alright, kid?" Slipstream asked.

"I think so," Sari said. "Thanks."

"Skywarp, you and Sunstorm take out the cannon," Megatron ordered. "Blitzwing, draw the Autobots out onto the beach. Sunstorm and Skywarp will join you when they succeed. Ramjet, Thundercracker, Slipstream, Miss Sumdac, we will land behind the enemy lines and trap the Autobots between the sea and our fire. Understood?"

Everyone gave affirmation.

"Good luck," Megatron told the two seekers who sped forward to attack.

Grimlock began firing the cannon more rapidly, but seemed unable to hit either jet.

Skywarp suddenly teleported behind Grimlock, shooting him in the back and taking the cannon controls offline with two blasts.

Grimlock stood up and charged at Skywarp with his flaming sword, but missed as Skywarp kept teleporting.

Sunstorm landed, noticing the frustration in their opponent.

"Frustrated, isn't it?" He asked tauntingly.

"Silence!" Grimlock roared, charging forward, but being stopped by a blast from Sunstorm.

"I know what it's like, Grimlock," Sunstorm continued, hoping his strategy would work. "You can feel the anger rising in you! You're just about ready to _explode!_"

Grimlock growled in frustration, finally letting his base emotions take control of him, and transformed to his hated beast mode.

Grimlock roared and charged forward, baring his sharp teeth. Sunstorm shot at him, but the shots just bounced harmlessly off Grimlock's skin. Sunstorm and Skywarp then shot at his feet, causing him to slip and tumble down the cliff face, crushing Huffer underneath him.

Upon seeing the defeat of their leader, the Dinobots pressed to attack even harder. Blitzwing landed on the beach, transforming to tank mode and firing a few rounds into the trees. Sludge crashed through, raising his huge scimitar. Just as he was about to land on Blitzwing, Skywarp teleported in front of him, blocking the sword with his lasers. Skywarp teleported out of the way just in time as Blitzwing fired straight into Sludge's face.

Megatron and the other fliers landed behind enemy lines, opening fire and trapping the remaining Autobots between a hail of blaster fire. It was then Megatron caught something out of the corner of his optic. Optimus was climbing the volcano cliff, perhaps trying to get away. Megatron decided to follow him, and perhaps take him out of the game for good.

**Detroit**

The ground-based Decepticons finally transformed and arrived at the _Steelhaven_, protected by its force field.

Mixmaster whistled. "Now _that's_ a ship."

"Great," said Scrapper, who then realised something. "We can't fly a ship"

"There's a first time for everything, my friend," Swindle explained, reaching into his chest and pulling out a large mace, similar to the one Lugnut wielded. Swindle swung it, hitting the shield, deactivating it.

As the other looked on in amazement Swindle explained. "Digital Impact Mace, brought on special from the planet Dahros," He said with his smooth businessman tone. "Word of advice: never visit Dahros. The locals are surly, the service is lousy, and the energon is always watered down."

The Decepticons walked up the loading ramp and into the bridge.

"What difficulties may come with commandeering this vessel?" Angry Archer asked.

"None, really," Masterson answered. "You see, from what I've learned, Autobot tech and Decepticon tech are very similar."

"So, let's get this crate up and running!" Dirt Boss said, hoping they would be in time.

**Dinobot Island**

Optimus looked around the crater of the volcano, looking for something that might suggest the AllSpark. He then saw its casing and went straight for it.

"At last," Optimus muttered, clutching the casing. "It's mine again, forever!"

Megatron landed behind Optimus and slashed him away, knocking Optimus to the side and destroying his jetpack.

"The AllSpark will never be yours, Optimus Prime," Megatron said, drawing his swords. "I swear it. I will make Starscream's sacrifice matter."

Optimus rose up, using the key to repair his jetpack, taking Megatron by surprise.

"Burden me not with the 'heroic' Decepticon drudge, Megatron," Optimus said, activating his battle mask. "At the end of this day, _I_ shall stand, _you_ shall fall"

"Why throw away your life so recklessly?" Megatron pleaded, one last time.

"That's a question you've had millennia to ask yourself, Megatron," Optimus replied, rebuking Megatron's implied offer and drawing his axe. "Now you will be rewarded for your complacency with termination!"

Optimus and Megatron rushed forward, clashing swords axes and key strikes in a whirl. With every strike, Optimus' hate for Megatron grew, and Megatron's resolve hardened.

Optimus brought the arm with the key on it above Megatron, who moved away just in time. Optimus stabbed into the ground instead, causing it to start cracking and ooze lava. Megatron sheared Optimus' arm off, causing him to yell in pain. Megatron then picked him up by the neck and threw him to the shore, blasting him with his cannon for good measure.

Megatron saved the key from the lava, letting the arm sink into the lava, and then went for the AllSpark.

As the lava began to surround, Megatron grabbed the AllSpark and flew into the sky, onto the top of the mountain and to safety.

Optimus, his chassis cracked, sparking and leaking fluids, looked up to make out the shape of Megatron, holding the item he desired the most. It was then that Optimus realised he had been defeated.

"I HATE YOU!" Optimus screamed. Megatron looked down at his nemesis, with a look of pity in his optics.

The lava oozed out further, some of it catching the fluids leaking from Optimus, who then caught on fire.

Megatron winced and looked on in terror as Optimus was horribly burnt right before him. With a final look, Megatron turned away, hoping his troops were fine.

He came down to see Thundercracker lying on the ground with his badly damaged arm almost twisted off.

Megatron knelt down. "Thundercracker, are you alright?"

"It's just an arm, mighty Megatron," Thundercracker responded humbly. "My template saw fit to grant me another."

Megatron took out the key and pressed it onto the wounded arm. In a flash, the arm was completely healed.

Thundercracker looked amazed. "Thank you, Megatron!"

Megatron helped Thundercracker to his feet and got down to where the other Decepticons were; restraining the remaining Autobots.

Megatron leaned down to Sari. "Miss Sumdac, I believe this belongs to you." Sari took the key back, grateful that Goldbug had been avenged.

"What do we do now, Megatron?" Blitzwing asked.

"We must get the AllSpark off planet, in order to draw the Autobots away." Megatron explained.

"Then I'm coming too," Sari decided.

"No, it's too-" Megatron said before being cut off.

"Yeah, I know. It's too dangerous. It's always too dangerous, but that's war," Sari said. "Goldbug understood that, and he paid for it with his life" On the edge of tears, Sari continued. "If the AllSpark chose me and gave me the key, there's a good reason. Besides, I feel more… complete now that I've found you guys."

The Decepticons were touched, even Sunstorm. "We'll be glad to have you on our team, Miss Sumdac."

"Call me Sari, please." Sari said, smiling.

"While I hate to cast a pall on some things," Ramjet spoke up, "We can't really get off planet without a ship."

Suddenly, a large shadow appeared over them – an Autobot ship!

The Decepticons readied their weapons, until the boarding ramp opened to reveal Soundwave.

"Dude! Did I hear somebody ask for a ship?" He called out, before tossing down stasis cuffs.

Paralysing the Autobots using the cuffs, the Decepticons boarded the ship and headed for the mainland.

There, they picked up Starscream and Goldbug's body and dropped off Masterson and the Angry Archer.

Suddenly, Scrapper got something on his screen. "Uh, guys? I got another large blip on our radar."

The Decepticons decided to blast out of the area. The ship in question was Ultra Magnus' personal craft, which launched several Autotroopers to search the city for his missing second in command.

Finding a clear area to land, the ship opened its boarding ramp. Down from the ship, accompanied by a hissing sound, came Ultra Magnus himself – a large, imposing figure clad in entirely black including a cloak, holding the massively powerful Magnus Hammer, with a face that reflected a will of iron.

As the Autotroopers swept the area, Ultra Magnus came down to inspect the fugitives found. It seemed that some of Sentinel's own soldiers had betrayed their true allegiance and joined the fugitive. Magnus would deal with all of them when the time came.

"_Report: We seem to have found another figure down in the crater, Lord Magnus,_" an Autotrooper reported.

Ultra Magnus walked up to the edge of the volcano and saw on the edge of the lava, the burnt chassis of Optimus Prime, which was barely stirring.

"Get a medical capsule, immediately," Magnus ordered. The Autotroopers wordlessly obeyed, bringing the fugitive with him as well.

**Author's notes**

One more chapter to go. Sorry if this chapter was a bit rushed in some ways.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

On the red planet of Mars, an elite group of Decepticons was waiting for any possible orders. This group was known as Team Chaar.

It consisted of Strika, the team leader and strategist, Cyclonus, the best swordsman of the group, Oil Slick, the team's Cyber-Ninja, chemist and medic, Spittor, a strange creature who lives up to his name, and Blackout, who could heal enemy troops by simply stomping on the ground and creating a shockwave.

Oil Slick was meditating and Cyclonus was sharpening his swords when Spittor spoke up.

"Botth?" Spittor asked with a lisp. "We've got a thip incoming. It lookth like an Autobot dethign, but ith giving off a Dethepticon energy thignature."

Strika came over and looked at the visual on the screen. "Team, get ready for combat, it could be a trap. Be on your guard."

Team Chaar assembled outside the ship with their weapons readied;

*Strika with her shoulder-mounted cannons

*Cyclonus with his twin swords

*Oil Slick with his double mace and a good supply of chemicals

*Spittor with his multiple tongue-like tendrils and cannons

*Blackout with his cannons and crushing feet

The Autobot ship landed, but from the boarding ramp came a sight they thought they would never see again…

"Megatron?!" Blackout exclaimed.

"It can't be!" Strika said. "But I am picking up Decepticon energy signatures from that ship"

"This is real, fellow Decepticons," Megatron greeted warmly. "I am back, and so is the Decepticon cause…" he then hung his head. "… but there came with it a cost."

"Where'th Tharthcream?" Spittor asked.

"And where have you been for the last fifty stellar cycles?" Oil Slick added.

"It's a long story," Megatron told them. "But, come, we need to get back to New Kaon as soon as possible."

"I'll go get the coordinates from our ship," said Cyclonus, knowing an Autobot ship would naturally not know the location of their largest colony world.

When the rest of the team came aboard, they were astonished to find the diversity of the troops onboard – aside from Blitzwing and Swindle, there was a junk-bot, three construction workers, a sound bot, a small organic, and not one, but five Starscreams!

"Strika, Oil Slick, Spittor and blackout, I would like to introduce you to Wreck-Gar, Soundwave, the Constructicons, Miss Sari Sumdac and the Seekers," Megatron said.

As the two groups got to know each other, Slipstream hoping to get to know Cyclonus especially, Megatron knew he would have to answer some questions sooner or later.

"Megatron," said Spittor, "You thtill haven't told uth when Thar… thcream… ith…"

He trailed off when he looked behind to see Starscream's offline chassis on the table, and Megatron's sorrowful expression.

"Oh… I am thorry," he said.

"Might I also ask, Megatron, where is Lugnut and Blackarachnia?" said Strika.

"I can answer both of those," Blitzwing said, walking forward. "We lost Blackarachnia earlier on Earth. We sent Lugnut and Wasp to find her, but they came back empty-handed. It was only much later that Lugnut confessed that he had killed her."

Blackout and Oil Slick looked at each other. They knew this day might come, when Lugnut might snap.

"The last we saw of him was when we destroyed the Autobot's base on Earth and he confessed his treachery," Blitzwing continued. "I froze him, but when we came back to the crater, he was gone."

"This is my fault," Megatron said. "I thought I could control Lugnut, maybe even help him. But there are some things even I can't change."

Strika stood by her team. "You can still change the outcome of our race, Megatron. We of Team Chaar offer our support"

The team saluted just as Cyclonus rejoined them. The other Decepticons bowed down.

"And we offer you our embers, unreservedly," Thundercracker said.

Megatron was grateful, and then took to action. "Strika, get those coordinates punched in, and return to your ship. We will return to New Kaon as soon as possible."

As the Decepticons went to work, Megatron murmured to himself.

"We will return…"

"The Decepticons will return…"

**Cybertron**

The Autobot Council, including Longarm Prime, were assembled at the Space Bridge nexus, as per the custom to show their loyalty to their Magnus. Rodimus Prime had also been called there, for some reason. Longarm Prime himself was wary. What if Wasp hadn't succeeded? What if-?

His thoughts were cut short when the boarding ramp opened and Ultra Magnus, flanked by Autotroopers arrived.

As the council knelt before him, they noticed Ultra Magnus' 'cargo'.

Fixit, Powerglide, Warpath, Side Burn, Scoop, Huffer and Crosshairs led first with stasis cuffs around their wrists and their mouths clamped shut.

The Dinobots, including Grimlock, were then brought along in specialised cages and kept in robot mode to better control them.

Finally, leading up the rear, came the charred wreck that was Orion Pax, strapped to a chair and wheeled out by Jazz, followed by Blaster, Jetfire, Jetstorm and Sentinel Minor, in need of repairs.

Ultra Magnus went up to his subjects.

"Dai Atlas, take these prisoners to the stockade," Ultra Magnus ordered. "Yes, sir," Dai Atlas responded, rounding up some Autotroopers.

Magnus then turned to Perceptor and Rodimus. "Perceptor, see that these 'Dinobots' are reprogrammed to serve only me," Ultra Magnus briefly glanced a look of anger at Sentinel, "And see that my second in command and his soldiers are fully repaired."

Perceptor affirmed in his monotonous voice, and then Ultra Magnus turned to Rodimus.

"Rodimus Prime, I must discuss with you an assault on the planet Gaea."

"What about it?" Rodimus asked, shrugging. "The place is probably just full o' metal, jagged rocks and packs of bloodthirsty beasts"

Ultra Magnus nodded. "That is true. Packs of bloodthirsty _psychic_ beasts that would make excellent slaves"

Rodimus finally understood. "So you want me to pull another Klo?"

"Exactly," Ultra Magnus said, suddenly becoming grave and serious. "And keep in mind, what you have seen here is only a fraction of what will happen to you if you _ever_ disobey me. Are my orders clear?"

Rodimus nodded. "Mirage clear, sir"

**Deep Space**

Megatron sat aboard the command bridge of the former _Steelhaven_, now called the _Memory of Earth_. Earlier, he and Sari had discovered that the AllSpark would not respond, and the only response Sari would get is 'Go back'.

They decided to keep the thing a secret to themselves, so as not to lower the morale of their soldiers by making them think that the AllSpark had been destroyed.

"All comm. links are open, Mega-dude," reported Soundwave, who had just been promoted to second-in-command in place of Starscream, who would be cremated alongside Goldbug with full honours.

Megatron cleared his throat and gave a speech which resonated across the entire Decepticon network.

"Fellow Decepticons, take heed. Your leader, Megatron, still lives! Though we remain dispersed throughout the far reaches of the galaxy, exiled from our true home, we are all still Cybertronians, united by a common purpose. The time has come for us to put aside our differences and act as one under a strong leadership. Only then can we cast off the shackles of Autobot oppression. Working together, we can return Cybertron to glory and free other worlds similarly oppressed."

The speech given, Megatron retired to his quarters. He didn't know if the Decepticons would be loyal or not, but, that was their choice. And what if they found out about the AllSpark? Megatron was sure all answers would be found in time, but, without Starscream, only time would be able to tell him…

**Cybertron**

As he was wheeled into the Council chambers of the Metroplex, Optimus regained enough consciousness to gain a grasp on the situation. He was now about to face the wrath of Ultra Magnus. The council was inconsequential. Pompous inbred swine - worthless, diseased, rotten, and corrupt.

He had hoped to enter these chambers once before, but not like this. As he glanced at his shoulder, he found his jetpack was gone and his arm had been replaced with one with a frail, skeletal form.

"Orion Pax, you have been found guilty of the highest treason against my undisputed rule of the Autobot Imperium," Ultra Magnus began. "I was lenient on you once before. I will not do so again. I hereby sentence you to-"

"Let me guess," Optimus interrupted. "Death?"

Ultra Magnus shook his head "Life," he said, gesturing to the view screen, which showed a heavily modified and more deadly Agonizing Rehabilitation Chamber.

"Take a good long look at your new home," Magnus said. "It was built especially just for you, as recommended by Sentinel _Prime_ and Grimlock."

Optimus, upon hearing those two names and seeing the chamber, growled and tried to break free.

The Council stepped back, fearful of what might happen if he escaped. However, the Autotroopers smacked him with the butts of their rifles, pacifying him enough for transportation.

Longarm Prime looked with horror as Optimus Prime was led away; the last sound being heard was a scream of anger more frightening than the hordes of Autotroopers.

"_All we can do now is hope that this is the beginning of the end,_" though Longarm.

And how right he would be…

As for the others...

**Author's notes**

Well, that's it. Megatron has returned, Optimus has been defeated, and soon we have all new adventures on Cybertron and the planet Gaea.

I'm not sure whether or not to make the following events of the sequel a different story or another half of this story. Let me know what you think. Reviews would be nice.

If you're wondering about some other characters; well, Blurr was found by Master Disaster and became the (unwitting and unwilling) star of 'Highway Angels'. Ratchet stayed on Earth, staying out of sight of both factions. Lugnut, well, he was left drifting in space. And Waspinator, I'm sort of saving that for the end.

This is JediJaras signing off.

'Till all are one!


End file.
